GatorChris
Not of This World
- Joined
- Feb 18, 2014
- Messages
- 3,246
Ok, we all know Disney is never free. But since I bought my APs specifically for our November trips of '14 and '15, everything else is considered a bonus. So we drove down on Tuesday, checked into Ramada near Carrows, and then woke up early the next day and checked into DLH for 3 nights. Here's some of my observations from the trip.
The Castle Covered/Uncovered: We didn't even see it when we hit a few rides on Tuesday night since we came in on the Monorail and stayed in Tomorrowland. When we arrived on Wednesday, the "painting" tarp was up, but the towers were showing. Honestly, seeing the real towers helped me not loathe and hate it. When we came back on Friday, we decided to take a trip on the Double-decker bus as something we'd never done before. We didn't look to see if the castle was tarped or not before loading. When we rounded the corner, we were all jumping and excited as the tarp came down overnight. I was so happy that I'd get to see the Castle with the beautiful pink blossoms by the Partners statue. Needless to say, it made the trip a lot more magical. I even ran into Entertainment Manager Chris McPherson who said he was also surprised to see the scrim come down. I guess it shocked everyone!
Disneyland Hotel: With the great Dapper Days deal, we were able to finally stay here. The rooms were very nice, as was the lobby. We stayed in the Adventure tower which didn't look much different than any other tower that I could tell. We all loved the waterslides, even though we froze to death to ride them. We also loved being able to take the monorail from the park to DD. It just added a layer of magic in the Disney bubble. I wish I had the money to do this place more often.
Disneyland Resort Channel: We also like watching the Disneyland Resort channel. However, they really needed an updated version during our stay. They were pushing a bunch of stuff that was down for refurb. Do you want to fly? That wish can come true on Soarin'. Wrong. Come get soaked on Grizzly River Run. Nope. End the night with the beauty of World of Color. Sorry folks. See a castle at the end of the street. Stately. Regal. Tarped....well at least for a few day we were there. Experience the smiles of Splash Mountain. Or maybe you'll feel another emotion (as the log heads to the briar patch) - really wish this would've been open. Throw in talking about Peter Pan and Matterhorn and half the infomercial was down for refurb.
Frozen Fun: Meeting Olaf, playing in the snow in Arendalle, and the Frozen Sing-a-long was a big hit with my girls. And my son loved the sleds going down the hill. We got there first thing and waited about 3 minutes to meet Olaf, which was better than the 90 minute wait I saw posted the day before. Oh, and the Freeze the Night party was fun for my kids. They were out there dancing and going crazy. Much better than the very-adult dominated Tea Party. Oh, and meeting Anna & Elsa is soooo easy now. We got a FP to see them at 4pm (remember at DL when you didn't have a chance to get a FP to see them after one hour of park time?). Then it was about 15 minutes in line to see them. It was easy and great.
No Flying Carpet?: Here's another thing the Disney Resort channel spoke specifically to, but it didn't happen. Went to see Aladdin live and everyone in the audience seemed to be looking up waiting for the flying carpet to arrive....and it never did. Any idea what happened there?
Fireworks: We grabbed a spot about 10 minutes before the show and thought they were OK. Very colorful, but very short. When it ended after about 4 minutes, my son exclaimed loudly "That's it?!?!" I guess we've all come to expect infinitely better in this category. Definitely wouldn't catch this again, and it made the lack of World of Color that more glaring.
Food: (1) At the urging of my son, we gave Flo's another try. This time we ditched the beef and cheddar thingy and the turkey-dip AND the horrible cole slaw. We did ribs with mashed potatoes and mac'n'cheese. Waaaaay better! It was actually something I would do again as long as I didn't have Big Thunder Ranch BBQ booked the same trip. (2) Another highlight for food: Earl of Sandwich. Man, that place was really good and cheap to boot. While my wife ordered sandwiches here, I got a family pack of beignets from RB Express. Those made for the completion of the perfect meal. (3) Also, we found out that Carrows by the Ramada has free kid's meals M-F, so that was a bonus. (4) Turkey legs, Gibson Girl ice cream, and churros, oh my!!! (5) Plaza Inn really does have some great fried chicken. A good and filling meal. (6) Goofy's Kitchen has some really great food and prompt waitress service. That said, the 40 minute wait for a table added to not seeing the characters coming around very well (with Chip repeatedly going to a table of 3 20-something girls repeatedly and at-length), I don't know if we'll ever do that again.
More of the Same: That's kinda what it felt like by the end of Day 3. We did a whole lot of Big Thunder, Space Mt, Pirates and Star Tours with the lack of Matterhorn, Splash, and Soarin'. The latter are rides we'll usually do 2-3 times a trip. But without them, we did the former about 5-6 times each. While they're good rides, I could've used a change of pace for thrills.
All Star 80s Band: I dont' know if these guys have a name, but we really enjoyed them on Friday night. It was great to hear all the hits of my childhood, and done very well - not just some cheap cover band. These dudes could perform. And the Devo hats were a crack-up. I'd love to catch them again.
All in all, it was a better trip than I thought it would be. That had a lot to do with the Castle being unveiled - that's the kind of magic that you just can't buy. We got to do Silly Symphony swings for the first time, which was a lot of fun. And Storybook Canals...we had the best boat captain ever with a gal named Ajiah (Asia). She made it fun and interesting, which it usually isn't.
Without a fireworks show to rush to, or World of Color to work around, we were able to really slow the pace down and just do more things in the evenings. That made for a little less stress - which is what I'd hoped the trip would be. I'm already thinking of ways to get back before November. I may have a dependance problem...and that's a good thing!
The Castle Covered/Uncovered: We didn't even see it when we hit a few rides on Tuesday night since we came in on the Monorail and stayed in Tomorrowland. When we arrived on Wednesday, the "painting" tarp was up, but the towers were showing. Honestly, seeing the real towers helped me not loathe and hate it. When we came back on Friday, we decided to take a trip on the Double-decker bus as something we'd never done before. We didn't look to see if the castle was tarped or not before loading. When we rounded the corner, we were all jumping and excited as the tarp came down overnight. I was so happy that I'd get to see the Castle with the beautiful pink blossoms by the Partners statue. Needless to say, it made the trip a lot more magical. I even ran into Entertainment Manager Chris McPherson who said he was also surprised to see the scrim come down. I guess it shocked everyone!
Disneyland Hotel: With the great Dapper Days deal, we were able to finally stay here. The rooms were very nice, as was the lobby. We stayed in the Adventure tower which didn't look much different than any other tower that I could tell. We all loved the waterslides, even though we froze to death to ride them. We also loved being able to take the monorail from the park to DD. It just added a layer of magic in the Disney bubble. I wish I had the money to do this place more often.
Disneyland Resort Channel: We also like watching the Disneyland Resort channel. However, they really needed an updated version during our stay. They were pushing a bunch of stuff that was down for refurb. Do you want to fly? That wish can come true on Soarin'. Wrong. Come get soaked on Grizzly River Run. Nope. End the night with the beauty of World of Color. Sorry folks. See a castle at the end of the street. Stately. Regal. Tarped....well at least for a few day we were there. Experience the smiles of Splash Mountain. Or maybe you'll feel another emotion (as the log heads to the briar patch) - really wish this would've been open. Throw in talking about Peter Pan and Matterhorn and half the infomercial was down for refurb.
Frozen Fun: Meeting Olaf, playing in the snow in Arendalle, and the Frozen Sing-a-long was a big hit with my girls. And my son loved the sleds going down the hill. We got there first thing and waited about 3 minutes to meet Olaf, which was better than the 90 minute wait I saw posted the day before. Oh, and the Freeze the Night party was fun for my kids. They were out there dancing and going crazy. Much better than the very-adult dominated Tea Party. Oh, and meeting Anna & Elsa is soooo easy now. We got a FP to see them at 4pm (remember at DL when you didn't have a chance to get a FP to see them after one hour of park time?). Then it was about 15 minutes in line to see them. It was easy and great.
No Flying Carpet?: Here's another thing the Disney Resort channel spoke specifically to, but it didn't happen. Went to see Aladdin live and everyone in the audience seemed to be looking up waiting for the flying carpet to arrive....and it never did. Any idea what happened there?
Fireworks: We grabbed a spot about 10 minutes before the show and thought they were OK. Very colorful, but very short. When it ended after about 4 minutes, my son exclaimed loudly "That's it?!?!" I guess we've all come to expect infinitely better in this category. Definitely wouldn't catch this again, and it made the lack of World of Color that more glaring.
Food: (1) At the urging of my son, we gave Flo's another try. This time we ditched the beef and cheddar thingy and the turkey-dip AND the horrible cole slaw. We did ribs with mashed potatoes and mac'n'cheese. Waaaaay better! It was actually something I would do again as long as I didn't have Big Thunder Ranch BBQ booked the same trip. (2) Another highlight for food: Earl of Sandwich. Man, that place was really good and cheap to boot. While my wife ordered sandwiches here, I got a family pack of beignets from RB Express. Those made for the completion of the perfect meal. (3) Also, we found out that Carrows by the Ramada has free kid's meals M-F, so that was a bonus. (4) Turkey legs, Gibson Girl ice cream, and churros, oh my!!! (5) Plaza Inn really does have some great fried chicken. A good and filling meal. (6) Goofy's Kitchen has some really great food and prompt waitress service. That said, the 40 minute wait for a table added to not seeing the characters coming around very well (with Chip repeatedly going to a table of 3 20-something girls repeatedly and at-length), I don't know if we'll ever do that again.
More of the Same: That's kinda what it felt like by the end of Day 3. We did a whole lot of Big Thunder, Space Mt, Pirates and Star Tours with the lack of Matterhorn, Splash, and Soarin'. The latter are rides we'll usually do 2-3 times a trip. But without them, we did the former about 5-6 times each. While they're good rides, I could've used a change of pace for thrills.
All Star 80s Band: I dont' know if these guys have a name, but we really enjoyed them on Friday night. It was great to hear all the hits of my childhood, and done very well - not just some cheap cover band. These dudes could perform. And the Devo hats were a crack-up. I'd love to catch them again.
All in all, it was a better trip than I thought it would be. That had a lot to do with the Castle being unveiled - that's the kind of magic that you just can't buy. We got to do Silly Symphony swings for the first time, which was a lot of fun. And Storybook Canals...we had the best boat captain ever with a gal named Ajiah (Asia). She made it fun and interesting, which it usually isn't.
Without a fireworks show to rush to, or World of Color to work around, we were able to really slow the pace down and just do more things in the evenings. That made for a little less stress - which is what I'd hoped the trip would be. I'm already thinking of ways to get back before November. I may have a dependance problem...and that's a good thing!
