Quick Trip Report

[Yukonjack]

So.....I have now been to Disneyland/Cal. Adventure, (wed and thurs this week), and wanted to post a super mini trip report. First, I was with my wife and two daughters (9 & 12), on military 3 day passes through my brother in law (we only used 2 days of the park hoppers, but it was cheaper to buy those than the other tickets). We spent today (Friday) at Universal in Hollywood.

We stayed at the Fairfield Marriott on South Harbor, and found it to be quite nice. Pretty basic, beds were good, but again we did not spend too much time there as we were in the parks pretty much the entire time we stayed. We lined up on Wed morning at the Disney gates to wait for the park to open and our family was chosen to open the park!!! This was our third trip and the first time we had this awesome opportunity. It was really a great thing for my daughters, and we were very appreciative. After we opened the park and walked into Disney we were immediately greeted by Mickey! He was the first signature in my daughter's autograph books, which was cool.

We had a great day in Disney, crowds were pretty light (not ghost town), and we rode everything we/they wanted multiple times. Lunch at Aeriel's grotto to get the princess autographs and photos, then Soarin. We went back to Disney until close and trudged back to the (short) walk to our hotel. Our daughters were cooked!

Thursday we went to California Adventure and lined up early again. We split up with my wife/daughters heading to TSMM and I to Tower to get FPs. I got to TSMM and it was a GHOST TOWN! We rode TSSM three times in about 20 minutes We went over to Screamin, rode that, then went to RSR to get a FP. Then on to Tower and GRR, which was also a super low wait and we rode it twice in a row. By then we were ready for a snack, so we got some brews and snacks for the girls while we dried off. We then went to RSR and then to the Blue Bayou in DL to have lunch (reservations are a great thing!). But let me tell you, it was PACKED in DL! We rode Indy, Star Tours, Matterhorn, and wandered around a bit before going back to California to cache in our second RSR and then lined up for WOC. That was a cool show, though we were worried it would not go off because they couldnt life the cover over the Mickey on the Ferris Wheel. Again, we trudged back to the hotel, took showers, and hit the sack around 11pm. Long day, but lots of fun.

Today we got up SUPER early and Ubered to LAX to get our rental car and then continued on to Universal. We lined up early, went straight to Harry Potter World, and Olivanders. We were the first group into the wand choosing show, bought our (overly expensive interactive) wands, and went to the Forbidden Journey. We rode that straight away twice in a row with little to no wait, and then went to get some butter beer. The girls walked around Diagon Alley trying out their wands, we went into the shops, then headed to the lot Tour, which was really good. After that we grabbed some food at the lower lot, and rode the Jurassic Park ride. That was about an hour wait, but was an OK show I guess. Not great, and not worth that long of a wait. After that we were pretty cooked, so we left the park around 2pm, and had about a 2 1/2 hour ride to the Hyatt Regency in Huntington Beach to relax for the next day and a half. We are here right now

All in all I would give this trip a 9 out of 10, with just the super hot weather bringing it down a point. Disney is really fun, and my girls had a blast, plus they slept like the dead the last two nights I saw that there was a two hour wait to get through security and into the park today, so we were glad we were not there. Long waits at Universal, but not a lot other than HP that my daughters wanted to see anyway.

Greg

 

[cinder-ellah]

Sounds like you had a great time !
I enjoyed your trip report.

 

[Christina-B-Na]

Great little report! Thanks!

Btw, did your brother in law have to go to the park with you in order to use those tickets? I have a brother in the Navy stationed in San Diego and was curious about those tickets.

 

[cruisehopeful]

and then lined up for WOC.

Was that the holiday version of WOC? If so, would you consider it to be an excellent show?

 

[Yukonjack]

Great little report! Thanks!

Btw, did your brother in law have to go to the park with you in order to use those tickets? I have a brother in the Navy stationed in San Diego and was curious about those tickets.

Yeah, he had to be there to activate them at the turnstyle gates into Disney, but after that he did not have to be around for the other days.

 

[Yukonjack]

Was that the holiday version of WOC? If so, would you consider it to be an excellent show?

I had never seen the full version of the non-holiday WOC. The one time my wife and I went to see it the winds kicked up and they canceled it midway through the performance. I thought the holiday version was pretty cool though. Lots of nostalgia and really great effects.

 

[Canuck16]

Sounds like a great trip and what a thrill to be selected to be the family to open the park. Thanks for sharing.

 

[chickapin parterre]

cool about first family, we have been first thru the gate but not first family, several times, holding up our fingers as #1 and the station clock in the background of the photos, but that was in the day of no rope drops and great people free castle photos

So what attractions did you ride several times in a row, and if so, where you able to pick up details that you had missed before ?

 

[Yukonjack]

cool about first family, we have been first thru the gate but not first family, several times, holding up our fingers as #1 and the station clock in the background of the photos, but that was in the day of no rope drops and great people free castle photos

So what attractions did you ride several times in a row, and if so, where you able to pick up details that you had missed before ?

Yeah, it was really a special treat for our daughters (and us too!). Glad to be home. Good trip, but I am happy to have left the large crowds behind