This and that from our Disneyland trip last week... (Things I've learned, etc.)

[GrandBob]

our last visit to DLR was on the last 2 days of september last year, a monday and tuesday. and the crowds really took away from the fun for us, as well. we were sure we'd picked a good time to go to avoid big crowds, but we were wrong.

Funny how that changes year to year. We went Sept 27 to Oct 1 this year, and it was a breeze. Things apparently got crowded the weekend after we were there.

-Bob

 

[Jrsy Boy]

*We won't ever attend the parks in October again. The massive crowds, (Oct. 12 - 18th) compared to Sept.and Nov. when we have previous gone, were a huge turnoff for our family

We were pleasantly surprised after all we'd read here with the crowd levels on the 18 - 20. Sunday was definitely the busiest, but still not as busy as the Saturday on our last visit, the first week of December 2008.

*The Hojo Anaheim hotel family suite is a good deal - it was louder than I expected it to be on the freeway side, but it wasn't bothersome. I would recommend a white noise device if you are sensitive to it.

We were at the very end of Building 2, next to building 5, so while we didn't face the freeway, the noise did echo between the buildings. With the a/c or fan going, we really didn't hear it, though we could feel some vibration from the traffic.

*Screamers on rides are so hard on the ears.

Had one ride on Indy ruined by two screaming teenage girls...and that is a loud ride to begin with so, for them to be louder than the music and effects, they had to be going all out. Why bother riding if it scares you that much?

 

[amyup]

*We won't ever attend the parks in October again. The massive crowds, (Oct. 12 - 18th) compared to Sept.and Nov. when we have previous gone, were a huge turnoff for our family

I'm beginning to think there isn't an off season anymore. Luckily the crowds didn't effect us too much (we were there 15-18) except during fireworks time. Pushing a stroller with people stopping in the middle of the road out of nowhere stinks!!

*Disneyland still has to figure out how to let people out of the park when it is at a gridlock; upon leaving the park, they wave everyone down to a few gate openings, when it would be better if they opened all the gates for people to exit the parks.

Completely agree! Can they at least have gates open to exit on both sides of the tunnels? Hate picking the wrong tunnel and having to navigate through the crowds to get to the exit.

*The Hojo Anaheim hotel family suite is a good deal - it was louder than I expected it to be on the freeway side, but it wasn't bothersome. I would recommend a white noise device if you are sensitive to it.

Is it really loud? I don't like staying in the Disney view rooms because of freeway noise but thought it might be fun to try out the pirate suite. We have both a pirate suite and building 2 room reserved for December. The kids are excited but I don't want to stay in a super loud room.
*.

.

 

[Crazy4Pooh]

We were there the same time as you but we didn't see any Lime Mickeys. We were looking. We had a great time on the rainy days Tuesday and Wednesday and even had a great day on Thursday. But Friday was insane. We managed to do everything earlier in the week and were thankful we didn't leave anything for Friday. We got all our FP's early and then left the park and came back later. We went on our first ride at 5:00 pm. We actually found FP's at Indy twice on Friday. People must think you have to come back during that time frame. Oh well bad for them good for us. We did Indy (DH's favorite) 3 times Friday evening and gave a set of FP's to another couple. We saw lots of characters, Thursday and Friday they were everywhere. I saw some I've never seen out and about before and we've been to Disney 5 times. I will also never go back in October, it was great with all the decorations but I enjoy November or February, less crowds. I agree about the screaming girls (guys) especially when their in line discussing how much they like the ride and then scream like it's their first time. Crazy.

 

[marcemc]

*We won't ever attend the parks in October again. The massive crowds, (Oct. 12 - 18th) compared to Sept.and Nov. when we have previous gone, were a huge turnoff for our family

We were there from the 11th till the 15th and had a different experience. I agree that sunday was extremely crowded but even on monday we didn't have to wait anymore than 20 minutes to ride something and we use our fastpasses on rides like Indy, Soaring & HM. Star tours had a 5 minute wait.

I guess that everything depends on the time of a day you ride something.

The most important thing is that you had a great time.

 

[snickerboo]

Thanks! Good tips for us since we're heading there soon. This will be our fourth Disney vacay and I have yet to do the lime green Mickey head. Maybe I'll try it this year

 

[raftislander]

We were there Oct.9-12. It was crowded but if you have a good touring plan and arrive early, you can still have a great time. We did everything we wanted and several things multiple times. The longest we waited was 25 minutes. Now SMGG got up to 120 minute waits while we were there, but we will not get in a line like that. I loved Halloweentime and would go back in a heartbeat. I do wish that I had used hand sanitizer every 1/2 hour! We developed colds after getting home. I had my LGMH on my bag but no DISer's noticed it. I might need to make a larger LGMH than the paint chip, so it is more noticable. I did run into Bumbershoot outside of HMH, because she noticed the "Tall Ships" fanny pack my DH was wearing so knew we were from the same area.

 

[bumbershoot]

Pamb, I'm so glad someone else saw Jafar! I had NO idea he was a character that might be out and about. Now, i'm not a character person, but my hubby and son are, so I do keep my eye out. We didn't get to meet him, because I only saw him *from the monorail*! He was on the "stage" area over near IASW, so I imagine he was kind of tucked away...might not have noticed him if you were on the ground. I started to think I was seeing things...but yay, you saw him too!

Why bother riding if it scares you that much?

Oh how I wish you had asked them that....

We were there Oct.9-12. It was crowded but if you have a good touring plan and arrive early, you can still have a great time. We did everything we wanted and several things multiple times. The longest we waited was 25 minutes. Now SMGG got up to 120 minute waits while we were there, but we will not get in a line like that. I loved Halloweentime and would go back in a heartbeat. I do wish that I had used hand sanitizer every 1/2 hour! We developed colds after getting home. I had my LGMH on my bag but no DISer's noticed it. I might need to make a larger LGMH than the paint chip, so it is more noticable. I did run into Bumbershoot outside of HMH, because she noticed the "Tall Ships" fanny pack my DH was wearing so knew we were from the same area.

Well I know that at least on that day you were up and at 'em early early, and that can make a huge difference!

For those who aren't us, we met outside HMH at about 8:45, isn't that about right? That's AM. Ayep, HMH before 9... Worked, though! We'd actually ridden it about half an hour earlier (we left the 7AM Magic Morning early to wait at Frontierland for proper opening, and did HMH very very first, to make sure lines were low and no one (*cough* 5 year old *cough*) spent the day obsessing only to chicken out (yay, he enjoyed it!)...


My LGMH has only been noticed once, and that was back in Sep or Dec of 2007...we were sitting to watch the parade, and a couple who *used to be* on the Dis walked by and saw it, and stopped to chat...it was so cool, but no one has noticed that since. Since I post my pictures, and especially since I post DS's picture and his name, we've been recognized by face and name (JudyfromBoise heard me talking to Eamon last May and knew it was us from his name!), but that paint chip is too small, and if only a purse it's a butt-height usually, and who purposely looks at bottoms? (OK, there are some, but no one's looking at MY bottom in a leering way right now, LOL)

OK wait. YES I noticed the fanny pack. How embarrassing. I don't know why my line of sight was on raft's husband's fannypack. I was swinging the stroller around after getting fast passes for Splash while hubby and son rode Big Thunder, so maybe it was watching out for feet that brought my vision down lower than 5 feet high (I'm 5'3" so I figure I am normally looking 5 feet above the ground?)? And we enjoyed the Tall Ships festival, so I noticed the logo...

But really, otherwise, I wouldn't have noticed it.

To quote Grover in "the monster at the end of this book"....Oh I'm so embarrassed.

 

[Jrsy Boy]

Oh how I wish you had asked them that...

They never would have heard me.

 

[bumbershoot]

Probably true....

 

[rappaport]

I already miss the food! Does anyone have the recipe for the pomme frites?

Not a recipe, but Trader Joe's sells a bag of Garlic Fries in the frozen section. It comes with a garlic sauce that you coat the fries with once their baked and you can then add grated Parmesan. It's more wet than the Pommes Frites, but comes pretty close to the real thing in flavor. My DS11 actually prefers them. I think they're $3.49 a bag and it's a nice treat in between trips.