We're back!!
Day #1- Friday 3/26- We left town and drove to Portland to the Ramada Airport hotel. We got a great Park N Ride + overnight stay rate. Ate dinner at the hotel restaurant (food was okay) and DH went in the hot tub for a while. Soon it was time for bed, as we had to get up at 4am to catch our flight.
Day #2 - Saturday 3/27- Arrived in Anaheim and went to Best Western Park Place to drop off our luggage before heading to the parks. Before the parks though, we wanted to explore the Gardenwalk, so we went there first. Nothing was open! It was 10:30am and the entire place looked like a ghost town. We were going to have Goofy's Kitchen for lunch, but we decided on Cheesecake Factory instead, but it was not open yet. Boo Hoo! So we grudgingly walked back to the parks and decided that since it was our half day at the parks that we were going to start at DCA. But first some food!
We went to Ihop and I had a delicious Belgian waffle with strawberries and whip cream, and a much needed iced tea. It was warm in S. Cal!!
We went through security and checked out the wait times. Not too terribly horrible, but boy was it crowded! We went on Screamin', Soarin', Tower of
Terror, and Grizzly River. And I got to fill my box with Mr. Potato Head pieces!
We did get RideMax, and followed the order they gave us for the park. Worked out great!
Then it was time to check in to our hotel. We did so, and got a lower floor room, #106. We walked into our room, and it had 1 bed! I had no idea that the "standard" room was one bed and a couch. Upon further investigation, the couch was actually a hide-a-bed, but when it was pulled out it was not very comfortable, as the springs would poke you in the back. I slept in it the first night, and then we folded it up into a couch again for the rest of our trip and our son (13) slept on it.
We headed back to the parks, but decided to go to DL instead. We put our park hoppers to good use! We only purchased a 2-day hopper because we had other stuff going on too.
So anyhoo, we went to DL and the lines were crazy. I don't know if anyone else noticed how crazy busy this time was. This is our third year in a row during Spring Break, and the crowds really exhausted us - moreso than any other year.
We decided to go to Pirates of the Caribbean. The sewer smell was so strong! The people ahead of us had their shirts over their nose. We looked at each other and grimaced, and I said "That smell is not very magical". They cracked up laughing. Eventually we got closer to the ride entrance and the smell started to vanish.
We went on the ride and checked out other wait times. Splash was 90 minutes, so we skipped it. We were exhausted, so we ate at Redd Rockett's (sp?) and went back to the hotel to get some rest.
Day 3 - Sunday 3/28 - Today was
Lego Land day. This was at my son's request. We caught the Gray Line shuttle and away we went.
My son loves his legos. In fact, one of the first things he did when we came home is dump a ton of them on the floor to play.
We got there and it was slightly disappointing. Totally meant for little kids. My son looked awkward attempting to play in the water with 5 and 6 year olds.
DH and DS went on "Knights Tournament" (level 3). We all went on "The Dragon", saw Miniland, went on the "Coast Cruise" (a Jungle Cruise wannabe), went on the "Technic Coaster", the "Aquazone Wave Racers", the "Bionicle Blaster" (a Tea Cup wannabe), and played in the XBOX Family Gamespace.
We went to a few shops, where I purchased some Silicone MiniFig cake pans, and DS got a few sets of Lego MiniFigs and made his own MiniFigs.
We ate BBQ at the Knights Table. The food was ok.
We were ready to go back to the hotel before the bus showed up, so it was then that we decided to take the "Coast Cruise".
We went back to the hotel exhausted, and grabbed some McDonalds before going to bed.
Day 4 - Monday - 3/29 - Today was our Disneyland day! I have to say that with the crowds today, RideMax saved us!! Seriously! To quote the Shrek movies, "I'm a Believer".
We went in the exact order of Ridemax, and had all rides that we wanted to go on done by 11:30am, showing up at 8am opening. We went on : Splash Mountain, Thunder Mountain RR, Haunted Mansion, Pirates of the Caribbean, Space Mountain, The Matterhorn (left side), and Tea Cups.
We had reservations for Carnation Cafe, but DH was craving Mexican food, so we went to Rancho del Zocalo. But nothing looked good, and our son started having a small breakdown due to the crowds. Last year, we had a GAC for him with alternate entry because he does not do standing in crowds very well. This year, we did not get one for him. Looking back, I kind of wish we did get him one. He has Aspergers and this is one of his "quirks".
So DH said that we were going to Cheesecake Factory, as we did promise our son that we would go there. We hoofed it to Gardenwalk. It was hot, and we were already exhausted by the time we arrived there.
DH ordered the Typhoon Punch (Stoli Raspberry Vodka, with Passion Fruit, Pineapple and Orange Juices) and he got a nice buzz off it. Probably a good thing, LOL. DS got the Fetuccini and a slice of strawberry cheesecake, and I had the club sandwich. My sandwich was HUGE - if you want to order it, make sure you share it. I couldn't even eat half of it and I was hungry! I believe DH got a burger of some sort. Service was good there, but they delivered DH's and my meals, and forgot about DS's. We felt awful, but finally managed to flag down our waitress to see where it was. Turns out the person who delivered our meals left DS's under the heat lamp. Not cool. I felt even more awful. DS didn't eat much of it. But he did order and drink about half of a smoothie, so at least he ate something. I think the heat was getting to him as much as it was getting to us. Poor kid.
After we ate, we headed back to DCA to go on Soarin', Screamin', TSMM, and the Maliboomer. We went back to the hotel to rest and swim for a while. We went back to DL for a while, as we promised our son he could go to the video arcade. DH took him to the video game arcade, while I grabbed some souvenirs and snacks (caramel popcorn & Jelly Belly jelly beans). We had planned on seeing the fireworks, but we were exhausted, both mentally and physically, as our son kept having breakdowns.
We went back to the hotel, and ordered pizza for delivery. The pizza was not very good, IMO. It was recommended to us by the front desk people - I belive it was Marri's Pizza.
We ate and went to bed.
Day #5 - 3/30 - Universal Studios Day! Hopped the Gray Line shuttle and off we went. To me, this was the best day of all!
We started at the Simpsons ride (worth the cost of admission on it's own) and went to The Mummy, Jurassic Park, and then the Tram Tour. The Tram Tour is always neato. From there we want to CityWalk to Pink's for lunch. DH was disappointed in his hot dog, as it did not contain a hot dog. He got a Ruben dog or something like that. I got a hamburger and the bun was hard as a rock. DS, however, got a plain old hot dog on a bun with mustard, and he devoured it.
We went to "Things From Another World" so DS could look for Pokemon cards. And then to Gamestop, where he got a video game. And then to It's Sugar, so I could buy my brother/pet-sitter a big gummy bear on a stick. LOL.
We went back to the park and saw Terminator, Water World, walked through the House of Horrors, and got in line for the Simpsons one last time.
I grabbed some popcorn for the road, and we grabbed a quick dinner at McDonalds as soon as we arrived back in Anaheim.
Wednesday - Home 3/30 - Got up at the crack of dawn to catch our 6:40am flight and now are home. Yay!!
*******
Vacation this year was rough. With my son having a form of Autism, plus going through the mood swings with puberty, it was not a super great vacation. The crowds were worse than we had ever seen them. I almost got barreled over by a woman pushing a double stroller who had the tired glazed look in her eyes. We noticed a lot of children running around (young children) without their parents. We were getting frustrated with people stopping in the middle of the walkways. By the time we were ready to leave the parks, we had it with the crowds. Wait times were longer than we had ever seen them. Lots of groups at the parks too : cheerleaders, choir, band, and I am sure that is not all. We all had anxiety issues.
BWPP was nice. Location is everything. The room was not soundproof, but we slept through most everything. I fell asleep listening to the fireworks. I was glad we got a top floor, but wish I knew that the room had only one bed. Now I know that "Standard" is 1 king bed. The breakfast was okay. Donuts, cereal, hard boiled eggs, danish pastry, biscuits and gravy (DH said they were awful), coffee, juice. Enough to get you going in the morning. The staff was wonderful though. Very nice and helpful.
We won't be going back to Disney for a few years, I think. We just didn't get the magic this visit. The entire vacation was exhausting. Next time we go, we will have a "rest day" where we just stay at the hotel and sleep in and explore Downtown Disney. We may have tried to do too much too quickly.
We have funny things to laugh about, which make it bearable though : the "un-magical" smell at POTC, DS's "couch bed", DH getting buzzed at the Cheesecake Factory and singing in the bathroom, not knowing someone else was in there, and other goofy stuff. We try to have fun and make memories each trip, and while this trip was not the best, we have fun memories anyway.
We didn't take hardly any photos. I believe DH took some of the Mini Lego Cities.
It's good to be home.
Can't wait to sleep in my own bed!
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Thanks for your trip report!
