Our Summer DLR trip - August 18-20........Finished

[jlstwinmommy]

We recently returned from a fabulous trip to So. CA including 3 days at DLR (Aug 18-20). I just wanted to say the tips on this board were great. I’ve never written a trip report, so bear with me.

Here is our cast:

Me (39): Disney fanatic. We have gone to WDW almost every other year since 1971. I was born in CA, so I've been to Disneyland a few times as well, but never seemed to do much but wait in line. The last time I was in DL was the week before 9/11 (literally, the Wed before, we flew home the Sunday before – and we live right outside DC . We were quite glad we got home before the planes were grounded for a month). We had never been to CA Adventure before.

DH (41): Not a disney fan at all, but goes along with us anyway.

DS(10): My big chicken. Disney is perfect for him because he is not into thrill rides at all. The biggest thrill ride he will go on is Big Thunder Mountain. He will not ride Splash or Space Mountain.

J (10): Our friend's daughter. They live in So. CA and we took her on this trip as a companion for DS. She is also a pretty big chicken and had never ridden the Haunted Mansion because it is “haunted”. That would change on this trip.

Twin DD/DS (4): These are my thrill seekers. The faster the better for them. They did ride all the mountains and the Matterhorn, Grizzly Run, Soarin, Star Tours, and Mulholland Madness. They love the ToT in WDW, but we didn’t do that this trip since we tried to focus on things not found at WDW.

We stayed at the HOJOs with that great ent. rate. We had a premium room with a Disney view. It was great to watch the fireworks from our balcony after the kids had their PJs on. Then everyone was ready to go straight to bed for the night. All the kids LOVED the new water play area at HOJOs.

 

[jlstwinmommy]

Day 1:
On the first day (Monday), we spent the morning at Universal. We had bought the City Pass tickets or I probably wouldn’t have gone there as the attractions there are not things my kids really enjoy. We did the studio tour, the Backdraft set, ate lunch and then headed to HOJO. Well, my DH rode the Jurassic Park ride on the way by, but the kids would have no part of that, so we just waited for him. We spent some time at the pool in HOJO, then had dinner then headed to DL.

We went straight to pirates as this is my FAVORITE ride ESPECIALLY the one at DL. It was very crowded at DL at this point and my main goal for day 1 (knowing we would only be there part of the day) was to see the Electrical parade. I LOVE this parade and miss it since it left WDW. So, we started heading toward CA Adventure to catch the parade. We had a little time, so on the way by, we stopped at the Tiki room. Another thing I miss. I love the original Tiki room. I have the CD and we listen to the music all the time, but my kids have never gotten to see the whole song without being interrupted by Iago, so they were ecstatic to get to sing the entire song and they loved the rest of the show.

We got a great spot to watch the electrical parade about 10 minutes before it started.

We then walked back to the room and got there just in time to see the beginning of the fireworks, which we all watched from the balcony. I great way to end the first day.

 

[jlstwinmommy]

Day 2:
My big plan was to get be in the park for MM opening. Well, after the late night, we were a little late in getting started, so we got into DL about 7:15am. The upside: there were no lines getting into the park. The downside: Peter Pan (which I planned to do first) already had a 20 min wait. Since we can do this in WDW, we decided not to wait and concentrate on rides not in WDW or rides with minimal lines. In the 45 minutes we were there, we were able to ride Pinnochio, Mr. Toad, Snow White, and Alice and we were first in line for Casey, Jr when it opened at 8am.

We then set out to collect fast passes as I learned from reading Hydroguy’s tips (thanks!) So we start out by getting fastpasses for Indy. Now, I mentioned the 2 older children are a bit chicken, but DS(10) had ridden Dinosaur back in Jan and liked it. We told him this ride was similar and he had decided to try it. J, on the other hand, wasn’t so sure. Remember, before this trip, she had never been on HM, much less any mountains. She had also never done Star Tours or Indy. DS decides to make it a mission to convince her to try the ride, but not first thing in the morning. So, we got 6 fast passes and decided we would decide who would go later. The twins were too short for this one (although they, too, rode Dinosaur, go figure).

While in this area, we rode the Jungle Cruise, then headed off for pirates and HM. Along the way, we had a magical moment……………….

 

[jlstwinmommy]

Sorry for the delay, my dh is out of town and things have been hectic at our house. Here is the next installment:

I have been to WDW now 3 times during the Million Dreams promotion (long story in itself) and never had any contact with the dream team (except to see them in passing) or really had anything “special” happen to us (or I should say out of the ordinary since every Disney trip is special to us regardless). We were walking on a path toward Pirates and my kids stopped to trade pins with a cast member who was just standing alongside the path. Now, my kids are huge pin traders and really got into it on our last WDW trip in January, so they were super excited to see someone with pins as we didn’t notice as many cast members with pins at DLR as we do at WDW. After trading pins, this cast member, noticing my DD(4) wearing her Cinderella dress, asked if we would like a private meeting with the princesses. The girls were jumping for joy (ok, so the boys were maybe not as excited, but they were still excited we got something “special”). The cast member gave us a ticket for a private meeting with the princesses for later that day. This was perfect because my DD(4) had been asking to meet Cinderella and I had been trying to figure out how I was going to do that without waiting in a 2 hour princess line, so I was secretly hoping Cinderella would be at this private meet though the cast member told us he couldn’t promise us any particular princess. The girls were excited anyway and couldn’t wait for our private meet and greet.

Excited, we all continued on our fast pass quest and rode a few rides with little to no lines along the way. We rode Pirates (always a favorite) and walked over to HM. Now, J (as mentioned before) had never ridden HM. DS(10) convinced her that it is not scary, despite the word Haunted, and she decided to give it a try. This would be the first of many new adventures she would try this trip. She loved it (which is good, because this is one of my family’s favorite rides). I have to say, I do like the one at WDW a little better though. I’ve always liked the structure of the one at WDW, maybe because it looks more haunted to me. I like the new staircase scene they added to WDW.

From here, we moved on to Splash Mountain. The older too decided to sit this one out, so we took the twins. They loved it and came back telling the 2 older ones how great it was. So, after riding Pooh (and getting fastpasses to ride Splash again later), J decided to give Splash a try. We never did convince DS(10) to try it. He’s been on the one in WDW and he really doesn’t like the last hill. J decided she LOVED this ride. We bought the picture at the end for her parents to see. They were quite impressed we got her on this one.

 

[kellynz]

How exciting to be dreamed. Im looking forward to hearing more about your trip in your next installment.

 

[jlstwinmommy]

Day 2 continued........

From here we headed to Big Thunder Mountain. Now this is DS(10)’s favorite ride. J was feeling a bit braver now that she had done Splash. DS had been talking this one up for a while, so she decided to try this one as well. We got fast passes for this ride and then stood in the stand by line. This ended up being the longest line we stood in all day, and it was only 15 minutes, so not too bad. Another big hit with J and, as always, a huge hit with all my kids.

After Big Thunder, we headed through Fantasyland, quite happy we had done those rides earlier as the lines were quite long now, and went over to Toon Town. As we got into Toon Town, we happened to see Pluto. The CM working with Pluto told us there was room for 1 more family, so we hurried in line to see Pluto with only one family in front of us. We were truly having a lucky day as I know character lines can get quite long. We then got fast passes for RR (thanks to the tip that this ride isn’t connected to the rest of the system) and then rode it standby with a 10 minute wait. We then ran over to Buzz to get fast passes, but we didn’t ride it at this time as the line was 45 minutes.

By this time, it was time for our lunch reservation at the Blue Bayou. We actually accomplished all this by 11:00am. We headed over to BB and checked in and were one of the first groups seated, right next to the water. J and I split the Monte Cristo (my favorite), DH and DS (10) split the ribs (also very good) and the twins split the kids prime rib. I had read about the split plate charge and was prepared to pay it for the 3 entries we split. Our server actually asked us and said if we didn’t get the extra sides, we wouldn’t have to pay the split plate charge. We got the extra sides for the 2 big kids, but we didn’t for the twins as they don’t eat enough. So we were charged the split plate for the 2 adult entrees, but not for the kids entrée since they did not get extra sides. Just thought that might be useful to know if someone has small kids that don’t eat a lot.

After lunch, we went back to HOJO to swim and nap. On the way back, I stopped at Cal. Adventure to pick up fast passes for Soarin and Grizzly Run. So, by the time I got back to the hotel, I had fast passes for the 2 rides in Cal Adventure and Buzz Lightyear, Roger Rabbit, Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain, and Indy.

 

[jlstwinmommy]

So our original plan had been to head back to the parks after dinner, but since we now had an appointment with some princesses, we headed back to the parks around 3:30ish. Our princess meet was at 4:30. We got there in time to ride the pirates again before heading off to our princess meeting.

We got to the Princess Fantasy Faire at 4:15 as we were told. They were just starting the show to teach kids to be princes and princesses. The girls, after a moment of shyness, joined right in. Needless to say, the boys sat in the bleachers. After the show was over, a CM escorted us behind the side wall and we waited on a bench for a few minutes for the princesses to get ready. Then we were escorted in the room where, lo and behold, there sat Aurora and Cinderella. I was so happy Cinderella was there, and so was DD. They spent about 10 minutes or so talking to the kids and we got some pictures and then left. J and DD are still talking about that one little moment to this day. It was such a great magic moment for them.

After this, we had promised everyone a snack so we stopped and got some Dole Whips (man, are those things good). Then we headed over toward Indy to start using our fast passes. Now J and DS had been having multiple discussions about who was going to ride this. They are both a bit nervous about rides they can’t see from the outside. So, as we approached Indy, J decided she wasn’t going to ride, but DS said he would. However, as I jumped in line, both of them ended up with me. I guess J had changed her mind. After our ride, they both said it was too loud, but the ride was ok. We had 6 fast passes we had gotten earlier, but the twins were too little, so DH was going to take the 2 older ones again. As we got off, J and DS said they didn’t want to go again, then DH talked DS into going again, and before you knew it, all 3 of them were back in the fast pass line to ride.

After Indy, we headed back to Splash again. Still couldn’t convince DS to ride, but J and the twins all wanted to go, so DS rode Pooh again while we rode Splash. Boy was I glad to have those fast passes. The line at this point was over an hour and the next available fast pass was at 11:35pm. By the time we got off the ride, all the fast passes were gone.

We then went back to Thunder Mountain. Here’s a ride my kids could have ridden 10 times in a row, at least they could have if the line wasn’t 45 minutes long. When we had ridden in the morning, we rode in front because it was the only way we could convince J to ride since the front is a little slower going down the hills. Now, everyone’s adventurous spirit was well in place and J and DS got to ride in the very back. They absolutely loved it. They wanted to go again, but we only had the 1 set of fast passes and the line was too long. Note to self: next time get a couple sets of fast passes for Big Thunder.

At this point, everyone was hungry, not starved, but a little hungry. So we stopped on our way through Fantasyland again to eat a light dinner. I have to say one of my regrets from this trip was not getting to try some of the great food I’ve seen talked about on this site. I plan my WDW trips around food and restaurants, including which CS places we want to try, but I didn’t do that for this trip. DH is more of a “let’s wing it” kind of guy, and we had originally planned to eat dinners outside the park so save a bit of money. Another note to self: next time research food options a bit more to at least have a plan for dinner in the park.

 

[MommyLove]

Sounds like a great trip so far! I especially love hearing about the older kids changing their minds and deciding to do the rides!

Looking forward to reading more!

 

[jlstwinmommy]

Sounds like a great trip so far! I especially love hearing about the older kids changing their minds and deciding to do the rides!

Looking forward to reading more!

Those 2 are funny. I have to admit, I was a pretty big chicken as a child (and I'm still not huge into thrill rides), but I always do Disney rides. I mean, it's Disney, how bad can it be, right? (shhhh, I still haven't ridden Rock N Roller - still trying to get the courage for that one... )

I was glad to see DS find a friend with similar tastes so they could be brave together.

 

[jlstwinmommy]

After dinner, we went back to Roger Rabbit, but it was broken down, so we went to ride Buzz. Then we went over to CA Adv. and rode Soarin. We didn’t end up using our Grizzly Run fast pass as it was after dark and had started to cool down. Plus it was getting late, so we headed back to the hotel to watch the fireworks from our balcony again and get some sleep.

Day 3 (our last day):

Our goal today was to hit Space Mountain and the Matterhorn and then head over to CA Adventure when it opened. So, we got up early, picked up some muffins at Mimi’s, and got to the plaza at about 7:30am where we ate our muffins until the park opened at 8.

We went straight to the Matterhorn. Although we tried to convince J and DS that this ride was no worse then Big Thunder, it was a no go for them. So, they rode Alice a couple of times while we took the twins on the Matterhorn. The twins loved it (of course). J thought about riding the Matterhorn, but decided against it this trip. I bet the next time her parent take her, she’ll do it.

Then we headed off to Space Mountain. There was no chance we were ever going to get the big kids on this, so we left them at Buzz and took the twins to Space. They really need to redo Space Mountain in WDW. DL’s version is SOOO much smoother.

After Space, we headed to Buzz to meet the big kids and ride this one more time. Then we headed to Star Tours. DS loves this ride and J wanted to try it. Turns out she loves this ride too, so we rode it twice. We still had time before CA Adv opened, so we headed across Main Street and, after a quick picture in front of the castle…….

(they were all trying to make funny faces, but DS just looks sad )

We headed to Pirates. I can never get enough of this ride. After Pirates, it was time to head over to CA Adv. We stopped and got Soarin fast passes and then headed straight for Grizzly Run. We got fast passes here too (thanks to the tip that this ride is not connected with the rest of the system) and then got in line. Everyone LOVED this ride.

I am not as familiar with this park as I’ve never been here, so we didn’t follow a plan as much as we probably should have given the crowds. We rode the Golden Zephyr and then headed to Mulholland Madness. We couldn’t get another fast pass yet, so we just rode stand by. This is a ride the J has ridden before and loves so she convinced DS to ride. He has been trying to build the courage to ride the Wild Mouse ride at Hersheypark and this is a similar ride, so he took the plunge to ride with J. DH really wanted to try out Screamin and the twins were too short and there was no way the other 2 would ride, so he headed over there alone while we rode MM.

DS really liked that ride, although you couldn’t tell by the look on his face when I passed his car on the track. We then headed to the back of the park and got in line for the non-moving cars on the Sun Wheel. At this point DH called and said the line for Screamin wasn’t moving, so he joined us in line for the Sun Wheel. DS is a bit afraid of heights so there was a small moment of terror when the ride stopped at the top to load the bottom, but he got over it as we watched Screamin go by and he swore he’d never get on it in his entire lifetime.

 

[jlstwinmommy]

After the Sun Wheel, we walked past the new Toy Story Mania. That line was incredible. I would love to have tried it, but we didn’t want to deal with the lines, so that will have to be a next time thing. Then we went toward Screamin. DH really wanted to try this, actually, we both wanted to try it, but with 4 kids in tow, 2 who wouldn’t ride and 2 who couldn’t, we weren’t sure if we were going to do it. We grabbed 2 fast passes for later just in case, but neither of us really wanted to ride alone, so we ended up not using them.

We stopped for a quick bite to eat and then headed toward the Monster’s Inc ride which I wanted to try. On the way to that, we stopped and watched the 3D Muppets. I love the muppets and so do my kids. Then we went over to Monsters, Inc. That is such a cute ride. I love Roz at the end. She made some comment to J about DD being her sister and if she wasn’t good, Roz would take care of her. J and DD were cracking up at that.

At this point we were all hot, so we decided to head back to use our GRR fast passes and our Soarin fast passes. Then the kids all wanted a Mickey bar treat…..

(ok, all but DS(4) who doesn’t like chocolate….)

At this point, it was time to let everyone shop for their souvenir. We decided to head back to DL as DS(10) thought he wanted something from near Indy. The little ones both picked out toys (Dumbo for DD and a Cars toy for DS). J picked out some pins as she got into pin trading with us on this trip. DS(10) ended up picking up the stuffed dog from Pirates.

We decided to do one more ride in DL before heading out. J wanted to try the Matterhorn, but DS wouldn’t ride that and we wanted to ride something everyone would enjoy so we ended up riding HM one last time. Then we headed to Mimi’s for dinner and then back out of town.

I’m glad I got all the tips from this board. I would never have thought we could accomplish so much in the middle of the summer. We had a great trip. Not sure when we’ll be back in DL, but hopefully it won't take another 7 years.