Summertime and Disneyland .Oo-De-Lally!!

[DisneyKid4Life]

Haha, it does look like Baywatch. And since these are photos, everybody is super (super super) slow motion. Perfect.

I'll be honest here. I was over California pretty quick on my one visit. Obviously LOVED Disneyland, enjoyed Universal, and I did like the weather. That's about it.

Awwwwwwwwwww, now that is indeed a Prince Charming to get the car for ya'll. This is making it hard to make fun of Magic Thunder.

YAY DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!

 

[thornton0511]

What a day!

I think most of us have been in that situation where the vacation is not happening the way you envisioned and it just breaks you. I know I've shed my fair share of tears on vacation before. Even at WDW.

Sounds like your DH knew exactly how to turn the day around for you though. I'm glad you were able to end the day with some favorite food and that it ended on a good note for y'all!

Absolutely! At this point we were so ready to move on to Anaheim and get out of the LA area lol!

Yikes - what a day! I am really surprised Huntington Beach does not have a boardwalk. I kind of expected that in a major tourist beach.

Good thing you had a knight in white armor along! Glad you ended the day on a good note in your favorite restaurant.

Yes the day was saved and ended on a good note!

What an exhausting day. I got a bit excited when I saw the Ruby's picture, because we have decided to eat there (LAX though) during our layover to WDW. I was hoping for a review, but after being that tired and hot, I wouldn't have waited 45 minutes either.

We ordered pizza delivery at WDW last trip. Kind of the same story. I was tired and very hungry and it was the best pizza I ever had.

I grew up in California, so when I moved to Texas and went to the Gulf Coast for the first time, I was shocked at how warm the water was. I couldn't swim in it. It was too warm for me. Now, living in Oregon, there is never any desire to swim in the Ocean.

Funny about cleaning feet at the fish cleaning station. We went camping in Eastern Gulf of Mexico in Texas once. We had gotten so muddy, but the campground had closed down the bathrooms while we were there. We didn't know how we were going to get clean. We went to nearest town and found a do-it-yourself carwash. It worked but we felt a bit hillbilly.

Yeah I was a bit bummed that we did not get to eat at Ruby's but your are right, at that point in time, I did not care anymore lol. The pizza lol! Yes you know exactly what I am talking about then...ha! Oh the warm waters and sugar beached of the gulf have me spoiled. That is awful about your camping trip, oh my goodness! No bathrooms? I have to admit the car wash thing is pretty smart thinking . Hey desperate times you do what you have too right? LOL.

Wow you poor thing. What a miserable day. I do agree though that you have to take the california beaches/boardwalks with a grain of salt. We did the Santa Monica Pier a few years back and we too felt like it was pretty dirty and a bit seedy but we knew that going in so didn't expect much. And yes I agree the sand sucks LOL. I have been to Hawaii and a few other places with that lovely sugar sand but here and esp the more north you go like the Oregon/Washington coast it is down right brutal to walk in with all the rocks and shells. In fact our summer trip this year was to my parents condo in Puerto Vallarta and same thing there although I had to laugh because I am so used to our "cold" ocean and we were ON the pacific but it DOES get warm even HOT the farther south you go. Down there it was SO flippin hot and humid and the ocean was no relief. The water was probably 85 degrees and even the pool at our condo was hot. So trying to cool off in the water didn't work. I would have LOVED that cool ocean about then LOL.

I'm sorry your day didn't go well and you got burnt. Sounds like dinner was good though and I am going to have to see if we have one of those around here and have to try it. Or if not maybe on our trip to LA in November.

And yes it SUCKS that we had to cancel our DW trip. We have been 4 times but since we live in CA we usually only gone every 3 years. We have been in 02, 05, 08 and 10. We LOVE it and we knew we wanted to come back and as I said had it all planned and even a deposit for this Nov. We were hoping for free dinning as we got it in Nov of 10. Well before it was released we cancelled and then wouldn't you know they released our week. But due to my mom needing knee surgery and some financial issues we had to give it up. SOOO hard esp since we can't make it back till 17.

And yes taking the kids out of school is tough. When my oldest who is 22 was in school we took her on 2 of the DW trips and she was in HS and it didn't seem to be a problem but since then the few times the girls have missed even jr high they have gotten grief. And my older one will be freshmen this year and she is in honors and is taking some HARD classes. She doesn't even want to miss the 1 day we are going to miss in Nov because it is so much to make up. So therefore we have no choice but to go in Jan of 17 over their xmas break. I agree I REFUSE to go in the summer. WAY too hot and crowded. So they get till like the 7th of Jan off that year and we are going to take advantage and go then and they will miss a few extra days but since it is the first week back after the break hopefully it won't be too bad. I just wish it wasn't ANOTHER 3 years away. That will make 7 years since we have been. Oh the horror LOL.

Luckily we do live in CA and can go to Disneyland but we love DW too and miss it and with all the prices increases we gave up our AP's that we have had since 06 and we don't have ANY trips planned even to the land till sept of 15. We were last there for just 2 days this past march but it wasn't fun and was part of a student govt field trip for the girls so I am def going to be in major withdrawls by then LOL.

Loved your DW report and will be anxious to check out your sept report!

Looking forward to see how you like our disney in your next installment.

Yeah the difference in the beaches and ocean were a bit of a shock for me. I did really enjoy the CA weather though! Wow! Texas weather and Florida weather are bleh! I hate the humidity so much I cannot even tell you. It's like high 90's here right now but with the humidity I swear its like 400 degrees outside.
One good thing I suppose about not getting out to WDW soon is that maybe they will officially have all of the kinks worked out of the whole FP+ and magicband technology when you do get to go back. And your right at least you have DLR to somewhat distract you and give you your Disney fix until you can go. All we have in driving distance is Six Flags and that is a NO WAY for us.

uuggh I hate sunburn!!!!! I think we have pretty much decided Newport beach will be the beach we visit on our beach day, the balboa fun zone and island and all that sounds fun! Can't wait until your Disneyland visit!!!

Yes Newport beach sounds like a great place to go. I bet you guys will have a blast. I have heard nothing but great things from there too.

Haha, it does look like Baywatch. And since these are photos, everybody is super (super super) slow motion. Perfect.

I'll be honest here. I was over California pretty quick on my one visit. Obviously LOVED Disneyland, enjoyed Universal, and I did like the weather. That's about it.

Awwwwwwwwwww, now that is indeed a Prince Charming to get the car for ya'll. This is making it hard to make fun of Magic Thunder.

YAY DISNEYLAND!!!!!!!

Ha slow motion Baywatch lol....good grief. Yeah I have to say that we are not in any rush to get back to CA. It's funny too that when we decided that we would change to doing both DLR and WDW this year we thought it may be a little crazy and too much but as soon as we got home from CA we all agreed that we were so glad that we have a WDW trip to look forward to because if we had just made CA our one big trip this year we would have been disappointed. Magic Thunder....never gonna get old lol. Your right I love him anyways! Yes Rob it's finally time for Disneyland!! Woohoo!!!

 

[thornton0511]

WE'RE GOING TO DISNEYLAND….


I woke up AGAIN this morning earlier than I normally should have but today it was okay. Because today I was going to Disneyrand!!!! I intended to start this morning off right too….the Starbucks way.

I impatiently waited for the thing to brew my coffee

Then headed out to the cool morning ocean breeze to enjoy my coffee. The aloe that I had put on before I went to sleep last night worked some magic because other than being a little sore my skin no longer felt like it was on fire, always a plus.

After enjoying my few moments on the balcony I headed in to do my normal routine with getting everyone up and going. The kids had their boxed cereal and apple juice courtesy of past club level and we quickly headed down to check out!

Check out was a breeze and the total for our one night here (which was a reward night) came to $85. The amount due was from the poolside drinks, pizza we had for lunch, and valet parking for one day. Not too shabby.

It was now time to go. We had our bags packed and we were officially Disney bound! YAY!!!!!

We went out front and waited for the staff to bring our car around. I thought the fountain here was a bit odd…..and somehow had missed this yesterday when we arrived.

We were soon in our car and had our new destination plugged in to tell us how to get there. No June Gloom was going to get us down today. No sir. We had a lot of things to celerbrate!!

While we were in route my DH took this pic and wanted me to add it to my TR. It's a Burger King located on McDonald road. Bahahahaha you see the irony there? Anyways I thought it was a sweet request.
So within less than 30 minutes we had arrived in Anaheim! And people were right. It is so weird to drive down Harbor blvd and see the tops of Disney rides. It literally is like right there all of a sudden. Now before we headed straight into the parks we had to stop and drop at our hotel we would be staying at for the next 4 nights while on our Disney adventure.

Yup. The Candy Cane Inn. Oh boy. Let me just say that this part of the planning was so incredibly frustrating for me. Especially since we had changed this to a budget friendly trip, obviously staying at a Disneyland hotel was out of the question. I think the cheapest one was Paradise Pier and was going to be like $400 a night. And I will admit I am a Disney snob, but not like you think. I like to be immersed in Disney when on a Disney trip. I don't want to leave the magic not even for a second. And we have stayed at Values, mods, and Deluxes in WDW so it's not about that. I just like Disney. Even when you stay at a Value resort you know that it's going to be amazing because it's Disney. It's owned by Disney, ran by Disney people, and cleaned by mousekeeping lol. So going into this I had an idea that this was not going to be Disney. but it came highly recommended here on the disboards and was closer than you could get walking distance wise. When we were originally going in July I had us booked at the Hojo but when I moved our dates that place was sold out. So I went with the next best from reviews. I tried to tell myself that it would be fine and we just needed a place to sleep and shower. That's all. And they had a free breakfast. It would be fine. I am sure I will get flamed for this but we did not enjoy staying here. Through no fault of the Candy Cane Inn people it was just not for us. We found on this trip that we are a family who need the place where we sleep and shower to be more than that. And let's be honest, no matter how clean or okay this motel can be at the end of the day it's just that….a motel. And plus it wasn't like we paid $50 a night to stay here either. It was about $12 shy of $200 a night! And I get that it's because of the close proximity to the park but come on. That's the same price of a mod at WDW! Okay that's it I will get off my soap box now. That's my two cents. Move on. In finishing, however, let me say that it was an okay place and if you are honestly okay with just a clean place to sleep and shower than this place is not bad….just not for our apparent Disney obsessed family lol.

Okay so we arrived and checked in with the very friendly staff. They already had our room ready which was great and we also had happened to park our car right in front of where our room would be so we did not move our car the entire week. Seriously if it was not in walking distance we were not going lol! Kind of like I am guessing people in NY are when they get a great parking place, am I right Scott?

Room 188 was located on the bottom floor right by the entrance at the end of the hall/corner. Our window in our room was one that was passed by everyone walking down S Harbor Blvd so for that reason the blinds remained shut the entire time lol.

We had two double beds in our room. Here's the room.

The table and TV area. We found it almost a joke that the TV remained fuzzy the entire time. It was like trying to ride TSMM without having your 3D glasses on.

The closet. Also across from the thermostat which always found its way back to 87 degrees no matter what we did to change it. Bleh.

The bathroom. Dear God please do not let me get locked in the pink bathroom….Amen. I said this everyday at least once.

Okay so that's it for the tour (I really do hope that I have made no enemies here now by not gushing over the CCI) we were on the path headed to DLR by 8:40am. You gotta admit that's some pretty good timing guys.

By 8:50am we were here, at freaking Disneyland people!!!!! The walk took exactly 10 minutes each time which I have to admit was not bad at all!

In no time at all we were walking up to the entrance of Disneyland. The parks opened at 8am each morning we were there and so we were only 1hr behind rope drop which I did not think was too bad for what we had accomplished this morning. We really had no touring plans today since we did not know exactly when we would be arriving here. We just kind of figured we would go with the flow today. After all we had a few WDW trips under our belt, it's June, it's summertime, it's Disneyland, we got this….right?! LOL.

We waited in line for them to scan our 5 day Phoppers and take our pretty identification pictures. Disneyland is weird lol….just kidding. I was like oh my goodness Disneyland flags!!!

And then when we went through the turnstiles I was like oh my goodness DISNEYLAND!!!! WALT!!!! AHHHHHH!! It was almost too much for me to bear. To finally for the first time ever to actually be standing in THE park looking at THE park. Disney over stimulation in 3….2…..1…..

And then there's this. And yes my dear friends it was all too much for me….and I cried as I walked under the tunnels for the first time ever stepping foot into Walt Disney's beloved park. This truly must be the happiest place on earth because I was filled with so much happiness at this very moment.
​

 

[amandaw]

Glad y'all made it to Disneyland!

After reading your initial report on Candy Cane Inn, I have to admit that I'm really happy my DH & I decided that we are staying at a Disney hotel no matter what. We admit that we need more than just a clean place to sleep & shower. We'll (hopefully) be staying at DLH, if not it'll be PPH for us. I thank you for your honesty b/c I was starting to feel foolish for not even looking at the "good neighbor" hotels.

So excited to hear about the parks. I can totally see myself crying when we go next year.

 

[kelmac284]

In regards to your response to my previous post yes I agree with you that Six Flags after you have been to Disney is a HUGE let down. The rides aren't the same, parks are sometimes dirty and it is just not the same. We have one VERY close to where we live but haven't been in years and now with all this talk of rides breaking down I am terrified to even try it LOL.

And OH the heat. I don't know if I could live where it has humidty. We were SO miserable in Mexico and the worst was there was no escaping it. At least hopefully where you live there is plenty of AC in all the shops, restaurants your home of course LOL. But Mexico is very poor and very few of the shops/restaurants had it and NO cabs did and even our condo only had it in the bedrooms so many days my daughter and I just hibernated in there LOL. So I don't blame you for hating it.

As far as Disney I have never stayed at CCI so not sure but I do agree once you have stayed onsite it is SO hard to go back. I of course grew up with Disneyland and didn't get to the world till I was in my 30's so didn't know any better and we are always on a budge so for me just having the closest possible place that is "clean" is ok. I am just happy to get to go and I tell myself the same it is just a bed. But my mom is like you and wants that immersion and all the extras and I can tell you it is hard for us to have to "settle" LOL. We try to stay onsite whenever possible but can't always do it.

Anywho loved your newest addition and can't wait to hear what you think of the rest of the place!

 

[petals]

Glad you made it to Disney. I'm with you on the crying. I'm crying reading about you crying

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Just have to add in first thing... Aloe Rocks!

See your DH just CONTINUES to make it harder and harder to make fun of him. Burger King on McDonald Road? That's awesome!

Candy Cane Inn. If nothing else, the location is pretty amazing. I remember seeing it on occasion from my walk from my really really cheap (in every way) hotel, lol. I'm talking $40/night, and yes I'm serious. Actually it wasn't that bad. Considering, as you said, many of the basic motels/hotels in the area are pretty expensive (and REALLY expensive relative to Orlando and WDW). But yes, staying "offsite" at Disneyland is so much different than WDW since many of the "offsite" are actually closer. Thankfully I am one that is good with just a place to sleep/shower, lol. And yes, seriously, $40/night. Plus I walked up the other side than you all did, so I cut through the Grand Californian each day. I just pretended I was staying there, lol.

I so wish I could say I had the same experience as you walking into Disneyland for the first time. Unfortunately, my first time came on "One More Disney Day" 24 party, and it was utter chaos, and the Disney "Feeling" was somewhat obscured by the reams of drunk kids, pot smoking, etc. But, the internal feeling of "I Am Here" was still alive and well.

 

[thornton0511]

Glad y'all made it to Disneyland!

After reading your initial report on Candy Cane Inn, I have to admit that I'm really happy my DH & I decided that we are staying at a Disney hotel no matter what. We admit that we need more than just a clean place to sleep & shower. We'll (hopefully) be staying at DLH, if not it'll be PPH for us. I thank you for your honesty b/c I was starting to feel foolish for not even looking at the "good neighbor" hotels.

So excited to hear about the parks. I can totally see myself crying when we go next year.

I am so excited for you guys and your trip next year! You know for us it really did matter to not stay onsite. If we ever go back we will either have to be able to afford to stay onsite or not go at all, that is what we decided. The CCI was not bad for what it was and if you were a family who did not care about all of the Disney touches then this place I would recommend, but if it does matter I think you would be disappointed like we were. Every family is different. Being in DL was surreal for sure!

In regards to your response to my previous post yes I agree with you that Six Flags after you have been to Disney is a HUGE let down. The rides aren't the same, parks are sometimes dirty and it is just not the same. We have one VERY close to where we live but haven't been in years and now with all this talk of rides breaking down I am terrified to even try it LOL.

And OH the heat. I don't know if I could live where it has humidty. We were SO miserable in Mexico and the worst was there was no escaping it. At least hopefully where you live there is plenty of AC in all the shops, restaurants your home of course LOL. But Mexico is very poor and very few of the shops/restaurants had it and NO cabs did and even our condo only had it in the bedrooms so many days my daughter and I just hibernated in there LOL. So I don't blame you for hating it.

As far as Disney I have never stayed at CCI so not sure but I do agree once you have stayed onsite it is SO hard to go back. I of course grew up with Disneyland and didn't get to the world till I was in my 30's so didn't know any better and we are always on a budge so for me just having the closest possible place that is "clean" is ok. I am just happy to get to go and I tell myself the same it is just a bed. But my mom is like you and wants that immersion and all the extras and I can tell you it is hard for us to have to "settle" LOL. We try to stay onsite whenever possible but can't always do it.

Anywho loved your newest addition and can't wait to hear what you think of the rest of the place!

Six Flags....ugh. Disney really does spoil you I think because DH and I both remember going to Six Flags in Dallas (which if I remember correctly was the first park ever to open) as kids and teens and having a blast and awesome memories, but now after Disney and being adults everything seems dirty and unsafe lol. We actually bought season passes last year to kill time before our Disney December trip and went once, then a second time later just to give it one more try. The kids are immune I think because they had a blast but us not so much. Then after our 2nd trip a woman fell out of the Texas Giant and fell to her death and we were like, well that does it no more Six Flags for us!
Oh the heat of the South is unbearable! I can imagine Mexico being worse too! Yeah we are onsite people I think....see that is how they get you lol.

Glad you made it to Disney. I'm with you on the crying. I'm crying reading about you crying

Awwww! It's okay I cried a lot on this trip!! Good and bad lol

Just have to add in first thing... Aloe Rocks!

See your DH just CONTINUES to make it harder and harder to make fun of him. Burger King on McDonald Road? That's awesome!
lol it was pretty funny
Candy Cane Inn. If nothing else, the location is pretty amazing. I remember seeing it on occasion from my walk from my really really cheap (in every way) hotel, lol. I'm talking $40/night, and yes I'm serious. Actually it wasn't that bad. Considering, as you said, many of the basic motels/hotels in the area are pretty expensive (and REALLY expensive relative to Orlando and WDW). But yes, staying "offsite" at Disneyland is so much different than WDW since many of the "offsite" are actually closer. Thankfully I am one that is good with just a place to sleep/shower, lol. And yes, seriously, $40/night. Plus I walked up the other side than you all did, so I cut through the Grand Californian each day. I just pretended I was staying there, lol.
$40.....really?! Wow with the CCI at almost $200 I cannot even imagine what $40 gets you lol just kidding It is absolutely all about the location, the closer you are to the entrance the more $$$. It made me miss WDW so much though!! That is so funny about you walking through the GC because we did the same thing the entire time we were there lol! Even going to the bathroom....any excuse to feel like we were on property
I so wish I could say I had the same experience as you walking into Disneyland for the first time. Unfortunately, my first time came on "One More Disney Day" 24 party, and it was utter chaos, and the Disney "Feeling" was somewhat obscured by the reams of drunk kids, pot smoking, etc. But, the internal feeling of "I Am Here" was still alive and well.

Okay well that is why your TR link kind of confused me a bit and to be honest I have not had a chance to read though it all (but it's on my to do list and I will get to it I promise) but I was wondering how one minute you were in WDW and then you were in Feb at the leap day thing for DLR lol....but then I figured it out. That must have been madness and you must be crazy lol. I can only imagine the masses of crowds would kind of take the "magic" away a bit. I have to admit I was a bit scared of some of the days we were going to be there due to grad nights, with the teens and all of that stuff, but we really did not notice any bad behavior or anything so that was a plus. Clearly not the same case with your experience.....bleh.

 

[thornton0511]

Our First Day at Disneyland Pt1


Once we had gotten through the tunnel we got our first glimpse of Disneyland! Wow MK and DL Mainstreet do look alike! We headed to the left because I had a few things to do here.

Number One. Had to pay my respects to Walt. I could not get over the fact that I was actually standing in front of the iconic firehouse that was also Walt's apartment. I was just in awe. To think that he used to look out that very window….it was just wow.

The next thing on my list included a stop at city hall. DH was getting a bit antsy at this point and wanted to know why but I couldn't just tell him right then. I needed him to just trust me. So while I made my way here he entertained the kids on Main Street

By having them pretend to shoot each other with cannons. Nice. My errand did not take more than a minute or so and soon I was headed back with something for my DH…..

That's right. A Birthday button! Today was not only our first time in Disneyland but it was also DH's birthday! How cool is it to spend your 37th birthday at Disneyland? I say pretty darn cool. So anyways with the button in place on his shirt we continued ahead down Main Street.

I had heard that it’s a big shock for WDW people when they see Sleeping Beauty's castle for the first time. I agree it's different to not see Cinderella's castle but I thought it was nice.

After getting my bearings on the hub I was thankful to find that Adventureland was pretty much in the same spot as MK. We headed in this direction to do something that we can no longer do at WDW….

Grab a fastpass. Dear legendary FP. I am going to miss you not being at WDW anymore. I am so happy to still have you here. The end.

Once we had our FP for Indy we headed back toward the hub to go to a completely different land.

One that had an entirely new mountain to conquer. MATTERHORN!!! At one point Disney had announced that this ride would be closed for pretty much the entire summer and we were super bummed. Then they changed their minds and we were super happy once more.

We made our way to the entrance and it was now 9:15am

I cannot explain the excitement I had to finally get to be here, in line, to ride the Matterhorn. THE MATTERHORN PEOPLE!!!!

While we were getting close to the front of the line I noticed this elderly man who was about to embark on his bobsled adventure and he was so excited and happy that he was clapping. This is why Disney is so awesome….I love Disney!!!

Before long it was officially our turn. I had butterflies in my stomach and could not wait to get going!!! I should also add that it was now 9:30 and we had only waited 15 minutes in standby. I thought that was pretty amazing. Since it was my first time ever on the bobsleds and I did not know what to expect I did not take any pics or video on this ride. I just wanted to enjoy it. And it was AWESOME!! Its true what people say about it being a bit rough on your back but no matter, it still rocked!!!
So after conquering the bobsled and marking that off the bucket list I took a moment to be sad that I would not be able to mark this one off my bucket list

Alice and her adventures in Wonderland. So sad.

So we moved on towards Tomorrowland instead and came across a familiar ride. Yay Astroblasters!! While we were standing in line (in an outdoor queue….what?) we were passed by storm troopers and I was like "Wait are we in HS? Star Wars Weekend?" Strange.

We got to the inside part of the queue and noticed that Buzz had an astroblaster in his hand. That's different! It was becoming a game to point out the differences that we came across.

Within no time we were on our mission.

While I hate that this version does not have the tunnel that you go under I still have to give the better ride award to this version in DL. Having access to the blasters not being connected to the vehicle is hands down so much better!

After we got through our mission we came to a room where you can email your ride photo to yourself. This was such an awesome idea! Unfortunately we could not find the one with me and DD but we did get to email the pic from DH and DS

I think that we got the email sent to us the next day or something. So anyways after this we realized that we were now able to grab a new FP so that's just what we did.

Goodness I am going to miss doing this at WDW. With two FP's in hand we headed back across the hub to cash in the first and add another brand new ride to our list. Indiana Jones!
















​

 

[kelmac284]

Loving hearing a DW person explaining how they felt seeing DL for the first time. I grew up with Disneyland so had just the opposite reaction when first going to DW. Walked into Main Street and was like WOW that castle is HUGE. I love them both for different reasons but I totally get why people have more of a love for their "home park". I think it is because that is where their first memories were made and because to them that is "home". We LOVE DW and want to go back as much as possible but we find when we got we miss things from home. Rides that aren't there, how close everything is etc. When I go to DW I love how I am so immersed and don't feel like the real world is so close.

Glad you are enjoying it so far and as always looking forward to the next installment.

 

[ProudMommyof2]

Great updates! Loving how much you are getting done.

 

[rteetz]

I hope someday soon I get to Disneyland it's one of my dream places to go. Happy belated birthday to your husband as well. Alice just opened back up and the ride looks stunning based on photos and video I have seen that sucks that you missed it.

 

[momof4fans]

I'm just loving your trip report! I don't cry when I enter DLR, but I feel so incredibly happy! And I need to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming.

Someday I would really, really like to stay onsite. But, I have 4 kids and that makes 6 of us all together. I need more than a two queen room. We've stayed at the Park Vue Inn right across the street twice. It has a two queen with bunk beds. Perfect layout for us. It was just at $200 a night with tax (18%!!!) but PPH is another $200 over that for a just a two queen, which isn't enough room. It's probably not going to happen anytime soon. But that won't stop us from going to DLR! I love it too much!

 

[luulu1999]

The little old man....how sweet!!!!.....Matterhorn was going to be down for our trip also SO glad they changed it!!!

 

[amandaw]

Sounds like y'all were getting a lot done in the park that morning!

I'm really looking forward to the things there that will be new to us but also finding those small differences in the things they have in common. I must say that both my DH & myself are both very happy that the guns can be picked up on the Buzz ride in DL. That's one thing I dislike about the WDW version. Makes it so much harder to aim right where you want.

 

[DisneyKid4Life]

Okay well that is why your TR link kind of confused me a bit and to be honest I have not had a chance to read though it all (but it's on my to do list and I will get to it I promise) but I was wondering how one minute you were in WDW and then you were in Feb at the leap day thing for DLR lol....but then I figured it out. That must have been madness and you must be crazy lol. I can only imagine the masses of crowds would kind of take the "magic" away a bit. I have to admit I was a bit scared of some of the days we were going to be there due to grad nights, with the teens and all of that stuff, but we really did not notice any bad behavior or anything so that was a plus. Clearly not the same case with your experience.....bleh.

Haha, just for the record, I in no way was expecting you to read that old TR. Just the "intermission" since it had the Walt Hollywood star we talked about. And also for the record, I was already booked for those dates before they even announced the One More Disney Day. And it turned out it was on my arrival day. I figured, hey that sounds totally awesome. It was not.. lol. I understand they handle it much better now.

OK, onto Disneyland.

Super awesome that you made your first stop at the Firehouse/Apartment. Much respect for that. And pretty emotional too right?

Birthday in a Disney Park???? I approve!!

Yeah... That awesome they kept the Matterhorn open. I was not so lucky. It was closed for reburb the entire time I was there.

 

[thornton0511]

Loving hearing a DW person explaining how they felt seeing DL for the first time. I grew up with Disneyland so had just the opposite reaction when first going to DW. Walked into Main Street and was like WOW that castle is HUGE. I love them both for different reasons but I totally get why people have more of a love for their "home park". I think it is because that is where their first memories were made and because to them that is "home". We LOVE DW and want to go back as much as possible but we find when we got we miss things from home. Rides that aren't there, how close everything is etc. When I go to DW I love how I am so immersed and don't feel like the real world is so close.

Glad you are enjoying it so far and as always looking forward to the next installment.

Yes I completely agree with you and both parks are amazing. We did really enjoy our time there but it also did make us home sick for WDW lol! I just did not really get why people say they get disappointed when they see Sleepy Beauty's castle for the first time because I thought it was wonderful and it just fit so perfectly with Disneyland too

Great updates! Loving how much you are getting done.

Thank you! Yes it was a productive morning!

I hope someday soon I get to Disneyland it's one of my dream places to go. Happy belated birthday to your husband as well. Alice just opened back up and the ride looks stunning based on photos and video I have seen that sucks that you missed it.

Thank you! It took us several years after our first trip to WDW to finally just go to DLR. I am glad that we did too . Ugh we were super bummed about Alice but I knew going in that when we changed from July to June that we were going to have to miss Alice and Space. I will have to look up the video now that it has been refurbished!

I'm just loving your trip report! I don't cry when I enter DLR, but I feel so incredibly happy! And I need to pinch myself to make sure I'm not dreaming.

Someday I would really, really like to stay onsite. But, I have 4 kids and that makes 6 of us all together. I need more than a two queen room. We've stayed at the Park Vue Inn right across the street twice. It has a two queen with bunk beds. Perfect layout for us. It was just at $200 a night with tax (18%!!!) but PPH is another $200 over that for a just a two queen, which isn't enough room. It's probably not going to happen anytime soon. But that won't stop us from going to DLR! I love it too much!

Thank you! Oh yeah I totally can understand where you are coming from and it can get pricey for sure! We were actually trying to plan for my DH's brother and his family to go to WDW with us for free dining in Sept but could not get it to work out. They have 4 kids too and 2 of them are teens and considered adults, and it was so frustration trying to find a budget on site room that would not be crazy. It just was not working out and the cost of two rooms was more than they wanted to spend. And none of us really wanted to go the value room route so....but I can imagine how hard it can be to find something that is not outrageously priced. And especially with larger families the lure of nice condos and things like that with more space can seem ideal.

The little old man....how sweet!!!!.....Matterhorn was going to be down for our trip also SO glad they changed it!!!

Yes I agree when they first announced it was going to be closed I am pretty sure I was screaming at my desktop lol

Sounds like y'all were getting a lot done in the park that morning!

I'm really looking forward to the things there that will be new to us but also finding those small differences in the things they have in common. I must say that both my DH & myself are both very happy that the guns can be picked up on the Buzz ride in DL. That's one thing I dislike about the WDW version. Makes it so much harder to aim right where you want.

Yeah I totally agree with that on the buzz ride! It was so much fun experiencing new and different, and sometimes familiar things!

Haha, just for the record, I in no way was expecting you to read that old TR. Just the "intermission" since it had the Walt Hollywood star we talked about. And also for the record, I was already booked for those dates before they even announced the One More Disney Day. And it turned out it was on my arrival day. I figured, hey that sounds totally awesome. It was not.. lol. I understand they handle it much better now.
but I still am wanting to read it sometime in the near future especially since you are about to be done with your Dec TR and I will have withdraws
OK, onto Disneyland.

Super awesome that you made your first stop at the Firehouse/Apartment. Much respect for that. And pretty emotional too right?
oh my goodness it was surreal
Birthday in a Disney Park???? I approve!!
yeah I did not do that on purpose at all when I moved our dates lol
Yeah... That awesome they kept the Matterhorn open. I was not so lucky. It was closed for reburb the entire time I was there.

that totally stinks Rob! I would have been so upset if it had been closed when we were there. It was one of the biggest draws for getting my family to agree to a DLR trip

 

[thornton0511]

Our First Day in Disneyland Pt2​

At 10:15 am we found ourselves back in front of Indiana Jones with our FP's in hand. Here we were not lined up to enter an outdoor auditorium to see a show, no no, we were going to ride this time! The number one thing that our family was excited about doing on this trip to DLR was ride things that were new to us that we cannot find in WDW and compare rides that are the same to see how they are different. Even though WDW has a similar ride at AK (which is a family fav) and an Indiana Jones Show (which is a classic…admit it….it is) the idea of combining the two seemed incredible to us and we were excited to see what it would be like!

First of all the attention to detail on this whole thing is amazing! Wow! And for the ride? We liked it! Honestly it was pretty cool. I know some people hate it when WDW people compare Indy to Dinosaur so while I won't do that I will say that while they are different they do offer some similarities too but over all our heart still belongs to Dinosaur at AK….it's a family thing. BUT we did like Indy a lot too!!

Okay so moving on. After we got finished with Indiana Jones we noticed that the sun was really starting to beat down on us and it was getting quite warm. The Adventureland Bazaar was right across from us so we popped in to see about a hat for DH and myself. Now I am NOT a hat person at all but I was also still sunburned and not getting a hat would have meant a miserable painful Disney experience especially for my huge forehead. DH on the other hand lives in baseball hats so I have no idea how he managed to get all the way to CA without one. Makes no sense. This man would sleep and shower in a baseball hat if you let him. So we went in and made our selections. This was not a hard task for me. Baseball hat, icon of Mickey…..done. DH on the other hand is very particular about how his hats are. Ugh. He did not want a hat that screamed Disney so that he could wear it all the time, this proves hard when you are in a store that sells Disney items…..finally he went with a hat that had no ties with Disney, but also not a baseball hat.

On our way up to checkout we did the math and realized that we were pretty close to $50. Close enough to add one small thing so we could get 10% off with our Disney Visa card. See how they do that? Lol gets me every time I swear. DS had been eyeing a necklace that was almost identical to one he had bought on a previous trip to Disney at the African Outpost in Epcot. Something had happened when we got home and the necklace broke could not be fixed which bummed him out. This seemed like an ideal time for a replacement.

On our way out we stopped to say hi to Shrunken Ned and then went on our way.

We decided that Frontierland was the direction we wanted to go and found an entrance to this land close to the store we had been in and right across from the Tiki Room at the entrance of Adventureland. Having it right there seemed foreign to me. In many ways DLR was in fact like bizarro WDW. Familiar yet different…..

It was now 10:45am and we had managed to grab 2 sets of FP, ride 3 rides, purchase hats, and get a birthday button. Not bad for a late arrival in summer. All of this had made us a bit hungry…..for a snack. We came across Mickey Pretzels right by Rivers of America and it was obvious that we needed to have one.

Great use of a snack credit….I'm mean wait wrong park. We put the purchase of this snack on our Disney Rewards card which technically makes it free….right?

We then found a spot by the water in the shade to enjoy the awesomeness that is a pretzel shaped like Mickey. IMO everything tastes better when it's Mickey shaped. Just sayin.

We were now in a time frame that allowed us to get yet another FP and since we were right by BTMRR well…..you can guess what we did. Why in the world Disney thought that this system was not working to the advantage of its guests in WDW and needed to be changed is beyond me. Here we were at DLR, in the summer, arriving late and not at rope drop, and yet we were already on our 3rd FP of the day. It's not a hard concept people. And for headline rides too, it's not like we are grabbing FP for Tiki Room. Sheesh.

Once we had our FP we headed over to a ride that we were all looking very much forward too. POTC baby! The anticipation of this ride being so much better than WDW version had us pretty hyped up. We love POTC in MK already so to tell us this one is even better got us excited. At 11am we got in the standby line. The wait time was posted at 20 minutes but it was actually less than that. We had noticed the same this morning with Matterhorn. But, as the week went on we noticed the opposite and had longer wait times then posted on many occasions so we really never knew what to expect with standby.

Oh how excited I was to be here. And apparently someone wanted a picture of Rivers at the same time I wanted my ride sign pic…ha! Within no time we were in our boat and headed towards an unknown end through the bayou. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the beginning of this ride. And I also HATE HATE HATED not being able to eat at Blue Bayou on this trip. I will say that the restaurant seems a lot smaller than I had thought it would be. From my perspective from a boat anyways. It's on the bucket list and I will eat there someday….indeed I will!

And now for not so great smartphone pics on POTC lol.

This ride is hands down better than WDW's version. I love the caves and the extra opening scenes. I love the double drop. The entire ride was amazing! It ended up being DD's favorite ride at DL and she asked to ride it a million times a day while we were here. Seriously anytime we crossed over in the Rivers of America area it was "Oooh Pirates can we ride?" LOL. I should probably also say that we finally allowed her to watch the Disney movie (the first one) right before the trip and this probably added to the fascination with the ride.

Upon exiting Pirates I came across this beautiful sight and thought for a moment about hopping the rope and seeing how far up the stair case I could get before Disney security tackled me and threw me out of the park. Sigh.

It would be amazing to stay here and honestly I think if I had my choice to stay overnight here or in the castle at MK I would probably stay here.

One can dream can't they………
​

 

[amandaw]

PotC is the main reason why my family decided to go to DLR next year instead of cruising again. Seriously. It's probably my favorite ride @ WDW & my DS loves it also. When I started telling him that everyone says the DLR version is so much better, he just looked at me and said, "We HAVE to go ride it, Mom." And the rest is history. Glad to hear it didn't disappoint y'all.

And I'm the same way with my Disney Visa....gotta spend enough to get that discount! It would be foolish not to!

 

[BellaBaby]

Bizarro WDW!! Too funny--but that is right on!

ITA--love, love, loved legacy FP at DL when we went! So awesome to ride our favorites over and over. Don't know why they had to mess with it at WDW!!

We also rode POTC over and over--I think it was our family's FAV of the trip!!

Great update!!