Our Happiest Homecoming - Part III Now Up

[SamIAm21]

Disneyland 6/7/06 to 6/10/06
Castmembers: SamIAm (aka Mom)
Megan – wonderful travel buddy and daughter.

As a new “Disney” junkie, I decided to go to Disneyland to see this 50th celebration before it ended. I just wanted to see the original before all the festivities ended and while the park was still decked out in Gold. I wasn’t sure what to expect. I love WDW’s Magic Kingdom, and really who doesn’t (oh yeah, DH doesn’t oh well no biggie), so I wasn’t sure if I was going to like Disneyland. I didn’t want to compare the two, I tried to go with a fresh perspective and not spend my time judging the two Kingdoms. So after what seemed like an extra long flight into LAX and a really long journey on SuperShuttle to the Disneyland Resort (“DLR”), we finally arrived at our hotel, the Howard Johnson Plaza Resort.

Re: SuperShuttle, I have to say I didn't care for SuperShuttle. I didn't have a long wait to board the van, but although the van was clearly marked Disneyland Express, I ended up having to go along for the ride while the driver took several other families home to their personal residences before proceeding on to DLR. I guess this was not what I anticipated and that really didn't lend to the "magic" of my trip. It took about twice the normal traveling time to do this. On the way back from DLR to LAX, we were taken about 10 miles to Garden Grove/Korean District to pick up some other passengers, driven all the way back to the DLR area to pick up more passengers then onto LAX. Seems like a lot of "out of the way” driving, again and extra time that could have been spent in the park, taking approximately double the travel time it should have taken. I think I am a wee bit spoiled by Magical Express in WDW and if I travel to DLR again, I'll use a private towncar service.

Re: Howard Johnson Plaza Resort, it was a great place to stay. My room was exceptionally clean, the carpet only had one quarter-sized visible stain, the beds were very comfortable, clean and they were made with blue sheets, which I liked a lot. White sheets are so “sterile” looking to me. Baby blue sheets reminded me of home. The bathroom was spotless, the tub was pristine without so much as one little mildew spot. I would recommend this hotel to anyone. The pool area was small-ish, but definitely more than adequate for me and Megan.

The weather… well we got to experience the June Gloom a couple days, but this past Friday, (6/9/06), the sun broke out from behind the gloom and it was a glorious Southern California day!

6/7/06 Well, here we were, outside the gates of Walt’s park, DLR, the original Magic Kingdom. I stopped at Guest Services to pick up my Fantasmic “premier” tickets and we head into the park and stand in front of the train station. First impression, hey it looks like WDW so far. Grab a stroller and walk “into the theater” for my first viewing of Main Street. It was love at first sight. Main Street DLR is different with each building painted a beautiful muted color, and it was a lot less white than WDW. There are trolleys, horse drawn carriages, and antique vehicles taking the guests up and down Main Street. The sound of Aaah-oooga horns warning pedestrians to step to the side and let’s not forget the fire department band, playing ragtime tunes as they proceed up Main Street into the Plaza and back again. And as I turned to my left, I saw it, the Firehouse, with the light on in the window above, in memory of the man who started all this Magic. I got a little misty and said a small “thank you” prayer. My DLR experience had begun.

Our first ride was on the Disneyland Train. I figured it would be a good way to gauge the size of the park and get a good lay of the land so to speak. It was a nice little ride with the ride between Tomorrowland and Main Street being the most interesting as it passed a series of really cool dioramas of prehistoric time periods, including lots of dinosaurs. Back on Main Street, we walked to the “Partners Statue” with Walt and Mickey, stopped for a photo-op and hung a left into Adventure land. First stop, Jungle cruise! A mere 15 minute wait and we rode the original Jungle Cruise and our Skipper was a hoot telling the usual corny jokes. My daughter loved the JC because all the animals stood still and cooperated. We really wanted to go on Indiana Jones, but Megan was a bit too short and I didn’t want to chance her being injured somehow on this ride, so we said “next time”. Tarzan’s Treehouse was next on the tour and was a short, but good gluteal workout for me. Yep, quite a few stairs there. Megan enjoyed all the interactive activities like rope climbing and checking out all the gadgets in Tarzan’s poor excuse for a kitchen.

Then we passed the closed for refurbishment Pirates of the Caribbean and took a picture near the signs and again we said, well I guess we’ll have to see this one next time too. No luck on catching a soft opening of POTC as DLR was saving this special treat for Castmembers only and really, they deserve it. Speaking of Castmembers, each one I met was nicer than the next. I, at one point, was a bit exasperated and confused because I was confusing WDW and DLR in my brain, just quite simply said, I think I’m lost and it seemed a Castmember appeared out of nowhere to put me back on course. At this point, I was entering New Orleans Square and I have to say that this is one of the best areas of the park in terms of theme and the re-creation of a very special US landmark area. It was New Orleans without all the funny smells. HA!! It is simply gorgeous with the sights and sound of jazz all adding up to be a very enchanting corner of the park. Churros add a nice cinnamon scent to nearly every area of the park. There was man there playing jazz on an electric guitar with several people just sitting around enjoying his obvious musical talents, another Castmember was walking around handing out bead necklaces to all the kids and parents who wanted them. And then we found it, this sort of hidden alcove staircase painted a beautiful blue color with potted plants decorating the winding stairs. What a spot… and for those of you who have been to DLR, you know what a treasure this spot is. It reminded me of the staircase inside the Bellagio Conservatory in Las Vegas. I got a great picture of my daughter standing there and I think this photo is going to be frame quality.

As we moved out of the streets of “New Orleans” there was the Haunted Mansion. I had been really looking forward to this given the recent addition of the Attic Ghost bride. She did not disappoint. She looks just scary enough with her axe shining in her hands. The photos of her and her many husbands were a great effect so that as you pass them at a certain angle, the husbands disappear. She uttered a very creepy “til death do us part” and her eerily evil laugh really sets the tone for the attic scene. Unfortunately, this scene passed by all too quickly as I would have liked to go around that area again to pick up some more “nuances” to this segment of the ride. The graveyard/cemetery scene is also quite elaborate and humorous with the occasional ghoul jumping out from behind a gravestone. I would have liked to have gone on this ride again, but Megan was being a real champ to go through with me just once! She’s not much for spooky things, but roller coasters don’t faze her in the least.

We passed on Splash Mountain that day because the weather was suffering from June Gloom which is typical phenomenon in So Cal. Too chilly to get wet, so what to do… ride Pooh of course!! I have to say, Winnie the Pooh is better in DLR vs. WDW and the “preshow” ride queue is better too. This seems to have been the pattern for most DLR rides. The queues always seemed set the scene and in the case of Roger Rabbit’s Cartoon spin, it also gives those of us who haven’t seen the movie in a while a sort of refresher course on the plot of the movie. I had really forgotten all about DIP, which is a toon’s biggest fear.

By this time, we decided to make our way back to Main Street to grab a spot for the Parade of Dreams. This is truly a wonderful parade and I hope they bring a version of this to WDW. The floats are spectacular and really a sight to see. I didn’t take a lot of pictures of this parade because I simply just wanted to see it without being worried about getting the perfect shot. Sometimes, I just want the memories in my head, not on film or media card. Before settling down into a spot, I asked Megan, are ya hungry? She says no, I’m okay. But like most kids, about five minutes before the parade is about to reach Main Street she says, Mom, I’m hungry can we go eat. My eyes bug out and I said, but the parade is almost here, if we leave now, we’re doomed. I was hung in that rare moment between wanting to be selfish and watch the parade and my motherly instinct to feed my hungry child and it happened… that DISNEY MAGIC that exists in no matter what park you decided to visit. Overhearing Megan’s pleas for food and probably seeing the conflict in my face, the family next to me, who had one too many hot dog, offered me the extra dog complete with chips and drink. I said sure!! What do I owe you? They proclaim Nothing, please take it and enjoy the hot dog and parade. So, there I was standing in awe of this random act of kindness and bonded with a Mom and Dad who had “obviously been in my position before” and came prepared! After a fabulous parade, some instant friendship and a lot of grateful thank-yous, we part ways.

Next up, head over to the Rivers of America to sign-in for Fantasmic. Fantasmic is a laser, light show beyond compare at either DLR or WDW. The battle between good and evil in Mickey’s imagination makes for one Fantasmic experience. DLR makes full use of its Columbia sailing ship and the Mark Twain Riverboat for this production and it seems to actually flow from one theme to the next more fluently in the DLR version vs. the WDW version. The WDW version seemed a bit more frenetic, which is fine given the overall theme of the show. I know my imagination and dreams do not always make sense. HA! I treated Megan and myself to Premier Seating tickets for Fantasmic which included river front seating, a dessert buffet and drink of choice. And here’s where we got hit with another big dose of Pixie Dust. They asked if we were celebrating any special occasions and we were, Megan’s 6th birthday. She is now more than “one hand” old. She got a lot “high thumbs” while we were there! The castmember who checked us into our seats made note of her birthday and about five minutes before the performance, he announced to about 3,000 people along the River that it was Megan’s birthday, Scotty’s birthday, Matthew’s birthday and Sherry’s birthday. All those people began singing Happy Birthday to them. I needless to say, was overwhelmed by the spirit and magic of all these people.

We stayed to watch Remember Dreams Come True fireworks, which was a long version of WISHES that also incorporates many of DLR’s most well loved attractions. I really liked this version a lot, but I can say that I do prefer WISHES, which tends to pull at my heartstrings a little more. Tinker Bell’s flight is far more elaborate in DLR with her flying over head many times back and forth.

Both Megan and I were really tired out by that time. It was only 9:45 in So Cal, but it was 11:45 Chicago time and it had been a long travel day. We shuffled out of the park, made our way to our ART trolley and took the short hop back to our hotel for a good nights rest. Tomorrow: Early Entry into Fantasyland, Big Thunder Mountain, Birthday Party at the Plaza and Splash Mountain!

 

[Sleeping Jedi Beauty]

Thanks for your report. It's interesting to see your perspective on my home park. I think you'll really enjoy DLR's longer and more detailed version of POTC. I'm surprised that you liked DLR's Pooh better than WDW's. We haven't done Pooh in a very long time, but did WDW's twice. And I agree with you on Walt Disney's Parade of Dreams. Each part of the parade is so elaborate and different. I love the castle float with the Partners stained glass, Walt's princesses, and Mickey & friends. Remember Dreams Come True is the best fireworks show I've ever seen. It's leaving at the end of the 50th celebration and I want to make it back to DLR one more time to see it.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Oh my gosh, I was reading this trip report (with the magically appearing castmember, the 'extra' hotdog meal out of nowhere, the happy birthday singing from 3,000 park attendees), and it's JUST KILLING ME! I WANT TO GO NOW!!!

Thanks for such a nice trip report, I really can't wait to go.

(Sigh.) Three more months until our first trip to DL...

 

[lindym]

What time did your flight land and what time did you actually get into the park?

 

[SamIAm21]

My flight landed early at approximately 10:15 and I didn't get into the park until about 1:00 p.m., which did include a 20 minute lunch stop because my daughter was starving at McD's on Harbour Blvd. I had anticipated being in the park by noon at the very latest. I will post Part II very soon!

 

[SamIAm21]

The day started out with the typical June Gloom and a bit of mist. Megan and I were out the door by 6:35 a.m. heading for breakfast. This was no easy feat because Megan is not a good morning person. I planned on it being a short day in the park with pool time and a relaxing evening/early bed time. We were at the gates of DL by 7:45 after having a nice breakfast and some coffee to wake up. I was very excited as I got to see the countdown with a family from Washington helping out! The gates opened and we all headed for Main Street, but for me first it was a pit stop at the stroller stand. We all moseyed up Main Street to the rope and waited around for a bit. The sun was starting to peak through here and there, but it remained pretty cloudy most of the day. At exactly 8:00, the rope dropped at the entrance to the Plaza and we all went straight for Fantasyland. Here’s where my WDW amnesia really cost me some time… I started to head through the castle and quickly zigged to my left as I wanted our first ride to be on Peter Pan. I went around carousel, past Dumbo bearing to my left and then it hit me. Hey, where’s Peter? I stood there for a minute looking confused as I know I saw Peter Pan here yesterday, right? Were we even in Fantasyland yesterday… DOH! No! We weren’t! I realized my mistake the minute I started looking for Mickey’s PhilharMagic to get my bearings. That was my last trip to WDW. DARN! Where’s Peter?? I doubled back toward the castle and there it is, I ran right past it looking for the wrong Peter Pan. That cost us about 10 minutes of wait time right there. I had to laugh at myself because I knew that I’d confuse the two parks at some point in time and thankfully that was the only time. After Peter Pan’s flight, we did Snow White (cool Queen peaking out at you by the way), Mr. Toad, Pinocchio, Storybookland Boats, and Alice In Wonderland, followed by a quick spin on the Teacups. Missed the Golden Teacup by about three steps! Oh well, we like the pink teacup too! I knew the passing of an era had come when my daughter passed on Dumbo. She just shrugged her shoulders and said she’d rather ride the rockets in Tomorrowland. Okeee dokeee then. After a quick trip into the Mad Hatter, we had our ears, mine were Gold 50s and Megan chose the Tinker Bell purple ears, which she loved.

So, there it was the Matterhorn! We got in the Fantasyland side line and patiently waited the 10 minutes. Now I heard the Abominable Snowman howling inside, but I thought maybe we’d see him once, but he actually took us by surprise three times. My daughter does not like screaming beasts surprising her and after that ride, Matterhorn was scratched off the list and she wasn’t about to go on again. Although we had eaten a pretty good breakfast, Megan had sniffed the bakery while standing on Main Street and asked if we could head back that way for a cookie. This sounded like a great idea as I could go for a wee bit more coffee, but it turned out to be a bad idea and I didn’t realize why until I hit the Plaza again. They were doing the rope drop for the “main crowd” and hundreds of people flooded the Plaza just as we entered it. I whipped myself down on a bench and sat there to wait out the sea of humanity flooding toward me. We finally went to the bakery for a cookie and a cup of milk and don’t forget the latte for me! From there I walked back to City Hall to get Megan her birthday sticker and she got to listen to a message that Goofy had left for her there. We sat on the benches near City Hall and watched the crowd stream into the park. After finishing our second breakfast of the day, I walked back up Main Street and got some Fastpasses for Buzz Lightyear and then got in line for the rockets. The rockets are like Dumbo but they sort of lean in and out as well as move up and down. This adds the extra layer of excitement as you feel like if this thing leans too much, I’m going to the pavement! Well it’s exciting for Megan because she likes to think she can dump old Mom from the rocket.

Getting a birthday sticker at Disney is a lot of fun. All the castmembers say Hey, Happy Birthday and they call you by name, which sort of befuddled Megan because I usually won’t let her wear things with her name prominently displayed on them for fear of “a not so nice stranger” being able to call her by name. This time was okay though as we were in Disney together and I was always there with her. She got lots of “thumbs up” because she was now one whole hand a thumb years old.

By this time, Megan was really bugging me to hit Splash Mountain, but it was chilly and the thought of spending a couple hours possibly dripping wet sounded like a bad idea to me. So, we decided it would be the last ride of the day before we went back to the hotel for a swim. Hey we’d already be wet right? The weather was teetering on sun/gloom and was probably about 75 degrees, not perfect swimming weather, but when you’re six, you don’t much care. I hoped the pool was heated, but it wasn’t! However, the 18 inch deep kiddie pool was and that suited Megan just fine. She isn’t a strong swimmer yet, but we’re working on it.

Megan and I rode Buzz Lightyear, walked across the Plaza to the Tiki Room, rode BTMMR again, and decided to head to Toontown. As you can see, we weren’t really planning this out too well. Toontown is way behind Fantasyland and we had already walked halfway around the park away from that area. That’s the beauty of DL though. It’s really not a huge walk from land to land. It’s not a puny park by any means, but walking from one side to another is not a Herculean feat. Toontown is a lot of fun and I had a great talk with some other Disney-junkies while waiting in line for RR’s Cartoon Spin. They had never been to WDW and I’m pretty sure I had them sold on heading to Florida before our ride began. I told them what I liked about DL and what I thought was a little better done at DL vs. WDW, but impressed upon them that each park is unique and heck, if you’re in Disney, it’s a good day right!! RR’s Cartoon Spin is a really fun ride and WDW needs to get something like this going in Florida too.

There are a lot of little practical jokes in Toontown and it provides an opportunity for parents to exact some revenge on their kids. One of the doors in Toontown is marked Electric Company and when you try to open the door it makes a pretty jarring electrical buzzing/zapping sound. Having seen this out of the corner of my eye and knowing full well that Megan had not seen it, I told her to run over to the door and check out what was inside. Given that she hasn’t progressed to reading words as large Electric Company she went and yanked on the door only to jump just about out of her skin at this noise. By this time, I’m full out belly laughing and Megan is just staring daggers at me. I made up for it by suggesting we walk over to Mickey’s House and Chip N Dale’s Treehouse where she promptly forgot about the Electric Company. She did however think the talking mailbox and wise cracking stacked boxes were a hoot.

We then made our way to the Plaza Restaurant for Megan’s 2:00 Birthday Party. If you are ever in DL and want to have a good time and get some great pictures with Mickey & Minnie together, make reservations for a birthday party at the Plaza. It’s $10.00 per person you get a small cake that you decorate yourself and some slightly watered down punch in a collectable cup. Pat E. Cake is the Master of Ceremonies and apparently also does the Prince gig over at Ariel’s Grotto Restaurant at DCA. More about that later… Pat E. Cake makes sure he gets to each kid and talks to them and wishes them personally a Happy Birthday and then just as you are about to sing Happy Birthday, the music shifts into the Mickey Mouse Club theme and Mickey & Minnie stop by at the party. This works out really well as each family then has more than enough time to get autographs and pictures with M&M. I was very pleased when our photo turned out really well, except Megan’s teeth were blue from eating the frosting… Oh well, she’s only 6 once right!

The party lasts about 45 minutes and it’s perfect timing for the Fastpasses for Splash Mountain. Splash Mountain is Megan’s first flume/log ride and while I know exactly what to expect concerning the drop, Megan does not. I had a feeling she wasn’t going to be too pleased with that dropping sensation in the pit of her stomach, so I told her that one thing I do to quell that feeling is to sort of hold my breath on the way down. Of course, I don’t hold my breath with the whole chipmunk cheek thing going on, so the picture of our descent down Splash Mountain was pretty comical. Megan holding her breath with full blown cheeks and me with my eyes closed praying for the drop to end. When we entered the last set of scenes in Splash, Megan looked back at me and said, Mom, I hope there aren’t any more drops, I said nope that was the one and only big one. She said good, I’m not sure I like those drops. I figured as much. So, from there, we decided to head out of the park and back to the hotel for some pool time. After the pool, we had some dinner at Mimi’s Café and if you are ever on Harbor Blvd and want really nice, yet reasonably priced dining, check out Mimi’s. From there, it was back to the hotel and we ended up watching Remember from the HoJo pool. We were in bed by 9:15 and boy did we ever need that sleep!

Part III - California Adventure Day!!

 

[DancingQueen]

Thank you for your report. I'm going in two weeks. So the info is much appreciated.

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your report ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[Nite0wl71]

Really great report

 

[cindercopper]

This is such a nice trip report. Thank you.

 

[Bunchkin]

Great trip report, Susan!!! So nice of you to share so many details!! It's like being there with you!!!
You are making me want to go back!! We haven't been to DL in over 7 yrs!!

I know you weren't able to ride POTC, but I wondered if they still have a restaurant attached to it?? We rode POTC and than ate in a restaurant that over looked the ride from above. You could see people in their boats floating by while crickets chirpped. It was quite lovely!!

 

[SamIAm21]

No Bunchkin couldn't do the Blue Bayou restaurant this time either... Booo! It is also being closed for refurbishment and will open later this month with POTC. I am sure it will be awesome when it's finished as it's being upgraded to quite a swanky joint. I will be posting the final, California Adventure, portion of my report today. It's been busy trying to catch up here at work.

 

[SamIAm21]

Part III - California Adventure Day!! Friday, June 9th

Today was DCA day! DCA doesn’t usually open til about 10:00 a.m., so we had the great privilege of sleeping in a bit today. After a quick breakfast at Mimi’s we walked over to DCA and got in a very short line. I liked the park the minute I walked in. I zipped around to the right and went straight for Condor Flat and got in line for Soarin. I absolutely love this attraction and was looking forward to it all week! The line was 5 minutes long and we just had to wait for one showing in front us. I love the pre-flight information with Puddy from Seinfeld. It’s terrible that I don’t really know the actor’s name. My daughter and I both had our ears on and I love the way he gently lets you know to remove “those little babies”. Did you notice the guy wearing them in the pre-flight movie looks like George Constanza? HA! Anyway we were in the third row and I was seated on the end, so my ride was a little hindered by seeing the edge of the screen and the feet dangling in front of us. On the way out, we grabbed a few Fastpasses to come back later with the hope of getting in the first row. From there, we decided to ride Monsters. My DH and I can repeat the lines to Monsters verbatim and we still use the code “23-19” to describe the little surprises left by our dog in the yard. My daughter watched Monsters everyday straight for nearly a year. We were in the front row for the Monsters, Inc. ride, but if you are a little kid, it’s hard to see up over the front of the taxi. The wait time was less than 5 minutes, so we just ran around again and got back in line and nicely asked the castmember for Row 3, which I recommend if your children are a little on the petite side. The second time through, Roz asked my daughter why her ears were so big? She thought it was cool to be actually talking to Roz. From there we went to see Turtle Talk with Crush, which is truly an amazing show. Megan is pretty shy and only raised her hand once, but wasn’t chosen, which I’m sure she was relieved about. We had discussed what questions to ask Crush in advance, but I know she would have skizzed-out when the time came to actually ask. Just like Mom, can’t really think under pressure. I have been using the word DUDE a lot since we left that show. It makes me smile.

The weather that day was pretty warm as the “gloom” had finally burned off and it was a beautiful So Cal day. Just what you would expect. One thing I really loved about DCA was all the great “California” music they played throughout the park. I love the Beach Boys, Mama’s & Papa’s, etc., so I sort of bee-bopped my way through the park and moved on to the “Bug’s Land”. Now these rides are for little kids, but I am thinking the age group here is about 3-5 max. My daughter is 6 now (can’t believe that at all) and the rides were a little slow for her. The “bumper cars” moved so slow that you could hardly bump anyone. They should call them “nudge you cars”. After a quick spin on Heimlich’s Chew Chew train (which has some interesting surprises) and Flik’s Flyers, we were pretty done with this area of the park.

We zipped back over for our second flight on Soarin and I asked oh so nicely for the first row and the castmember granted my wish! First row, front and center and this flight was amazing. I had a lady sitting next to me that was from California, so she knew what some of the scenes were and was quietly whispering them to her friend, which I gratefully overheard. I was never sure exactly where that golf course was located, but now I know… PALM SPRINGS!

Now DCA reminds me a lot of MGM Studios in WDW, with a variation of Animal Kingdom mixed in (Grizzly River Rapids area) and a little bit of the California carnival all mixed up together (Paradise Pier). I really liked DCA although it would be hard to do that for more than one day. Just not really enough there to keep you interested all day long. We wanted to ride the Golden Zephyr, but a breeze had kicked up and they won’t run in wind speeds over 10mph. Seems a bit cautious, but I’m sure they know what they’re doing. Instead of the Zephyr, we did the Jumpin Jellyfish, which my daughter loved as it was just her speed. This ride pulls you up and then drops you down gently one bounce at a time. From there, we had my daughter’s face painted on the Pier, watched the Maliboomer shoot up and drop down. YIKES! That’s the Jumpin Jellyfish on steroids. At this point, it was time to do some shows as it was getting downright “toasty” outside, so we went back up to the Hollywood Blvd area to see Playhouse Disney and use our preferred seating tickets for the Muppets and Aladdin.

Now, this whole paragraph is going to be dedicated to Aladdin! This is the BEST SHOW I have ever seen in a Disney forum. The genie in this show was so amazingly funny, my sides hurt when I left the theater. Megan roared with laughter and nothing makes a Mom feel better than hearing her child just crack up! It’s obvious he is a comic by nature and ad-libs quite a few of his lines to keep up with the funnier current events including the Tom Cruise couch jumping and the current “oh no you dit-int” type slang. His jokes are aimed at both segments of the audience, the kids get some of them, but the adults get all of them. At one point, a baby was crying in the audience and Genie scolded Aladdin telling him, “you know you made that baby cry!” The actor playing Aladdin simply had to turn his back on the audience as you could see he was really trying hard to hold it together. I would pay the price of admission into DCA just to see this 40 minute play again. It was truly amazing with things going on in the audience and the sets were masterfully done. Hard to duplicate flying on a magic carpet scene of Aladdin, but they handled it so well. Speaking of magic carpets, the actress playing the carpet was so good at getting her feelings across and she actually never utters a word. If you are headed to Disneyland, please please please go see Aladdin! I wish it were at WDW so I could see it again in November.

By the time we left the theater it was dinner time and we were both so hungry, thankfully we had reservations at Ariel’s Grotto! It was packed with people because apparently the restaurant had to close the night before due to some type of flooding? They had to completely sanitize the whole restaurant and throw out all the food. So, at least I knew we’d be getting nice fresh everything! Ariel’s is a very pretty restaurant done in all sea-greens, peaches, aquas and cream, and definitely fit for a Princess. They were turning people away left and right, which made me doubly glad I had a ressie for that evening. We were seated within five minutes of check in and had a great outside table overlooking a small lake and California Screamin! Our waiter was a bit slow, but I knew he had to be swamped. Seemed like each of his tables were loaded with “grand gatherings”. Each Princess, Cinderella, Ariel, Mulan, Belle, and Jasmine stopped by our table for pics and autographs. Seeing that we were leaving the next day, this made for a really wonderful near-ending to our trip. The food was fair, nothing amazing, but the atmosphere made up for it. We wrapped up dinner and the small birthday cake just in time to make our way down to the “street” for the Electric Light Parade. This is one parade I am so glad I was able to see as it’s a Disney “institution”. It should always be shown in one of the Disney parks somewhere.

Well this day was quickly coming to a rapid close as we walked toward the entrance to leave. We were both still pretty “awake” and decided to make the walk back to the Howard Johnson vs. taking the ART (Anaheim Resort Transit). This is a very cool way to get back and forth if you are not a walker. I walk quite a bit during my day, so the ten minute walk was no big deal. But, if you have physical limitations and need some transportation, don’t hesitate to use them. They always seemed to be there when I needed them!

Saturday was only half a day for us, so we spent it doing some of our favorite rides over again at Disneyland and buying souvenirs to bring home! I got a great looking watch at the Watch shop on Main Street which has a black face, gold Mickey ears with a 50 and a small banner with Disneyland written on it. I am really glad I got this and didn’t just walk away from it. I usually don’t buy myself souvenirs, but this time, I knew it was a once in a lifetime occasion. Disneyland celebrating 50 years wasn’t going to happen again and I wanted a little “piece of it”. Between my watch and my 50 Ears, I’m set.

I hope you enjoyed this trip report. It was fun writing it that’s for sure. I feel like I’m pretty well versed in most things Disneyland now, so if you have any questions, please feel free to ask me!

 

[GailT]

Thank you so so much for that GREAT trip report. I can't wait till I go for Chrostmas, I can't think of a better place to spend the holiday.

 

[Bunchkin]

Shucks!!! It's the end!!!

Great report!!!!

I really want to go back to DL now!!! Thanks for inspiring me!!
It won't be hard to convince DH to go since his sister lives near DL, about 45 minutes away, and he loves southern Cal.

And I bet DD would love to eat at Ariel's Grotto!!

Thanks for sharing!!!

 

[Sleeping Jedi Beauty]

It sounds like I may have to make time to see Aladdin when I head down to DL for a one last time for the 50th trip sometime later this summer. It's rumored to be leaving the park soon and I have heard great things about it.

 

[ItzKaren]

Hi Sam
What a great report.....I felt like I was walking along with you two! I'm taking my daughter....just the 2 of us....we'll be there 4 weeks from now! We will also be flying to LAX....and I have been trying to decide whether to stay with the "Super Shuttle" or hire a towncar. I want to avoid the extra travel time caused by multiple stops. The towncar might be a good 'investment' up front to start the trip.

Thank you for your details about rides.....although we've been to DL many times (last time was 4 years ago)....I still take a few days before I feel like I'm not lost! This time.....I think I will try to plan out a few things...

We are going to enjoy the Fantasmic balcony one night....and have PS at Blue Bayou. My daughter is 13 (turning 14 in DL)......sounds like you have started creating some wonderful memories for your 6 year old daughter!

Thanks again for taking the time to share those great memories with us!

 

[evilqueen71]

Great report. I agree with you so much on the Aladdin show. It is worth the price of admission just to see the show. It is so awesome. We missed it last year but will be sure to catch it this year. Can't wait. Only 12 more days until we leave.

 

[Nite0wl71]

That does it, I am definatly going to have to plan a trip to DL next year.

 

[SamIAm21]

Hi Sam
What a great report.....I felt like I was walking along with you two! I'm taking my daughter....just the 2 of us....we'll be there 4 weeks from now! We will also be flying to LAX....and I have been trying to decide whether to stay with the "Super Shuttle" or hire a towncar. I want to avoid the extra travel time caused by multiple stops. The towncar might be a good 'investment' up front to start the trip.

Thank you for your details about rides.....although we've been to DL many times (last time was 4 years ago)....I still take a few days before I feel like I'm not lost! This time.....I think I will try to plan out a few things...

We are going to enjoy the Fantasmic balcony one night....and have PS at Blue Bayou. My daughter is 13 (turning 14 in DL)......sounds like you have started creating some wonderful memories for your 6 year old daughter!

Thanks again for taking the time to share those great memories with us!

ItzKaren, if you can swing it go with the towncar. I honestly will never take SuperShuttle again. For what SS is, it's a great service. It was clean and comfortable, but not very good about getting you to your destination in a fair amount of time. When you are traveling to someplace like Disney, you want to get there as soon as possible and leave as late as will accomdate your flight time ya know. If you have 3 to 4 stops before getting there and three to four stops on your way back, it eats into your "fun time". I will definitely go back to DL again, maybe 2008, but I will get a limo or a share ride right to the DL resort area.