This Is Halloween! Pre + Post Trip Report Sept 28th - Oct 2nd

[MandaPandaPuddinPie]

This is my first time ever doing a trip report. I thought I'd try it out on our first married trip to the West Coast.

Let me start by introducing myself…

My name is Amanda. I'm 28 years old and I live in Boston, MA. I've been a Disney fan my entire life! My parents started taking me to Disneyland when I was just 2 years old. We visited at least 5 times, but because we were on the east coast, we frequented Walt Disney World a bit more. I've lost count how many times we've been to Florida. Also, although this picture shows me with Anna and an Elsa t-shirt, my favorite princess is Ariel.

Here is my wonderful husband Lee. He is also 28, and although he doesn't seem as excited as me he still loves Disney. This photo was on our honeymoon to WDW. This was only his second time to Disney. His parents took him when he was much younger and he did not remember much. Lee has NEVER been to the West Coast, and has only heard about Disneyland. He's very excited to see where it all began, and to walk where Walt did. His favorite character is Jack Skellington, but he also loves Roger Rabbit. The only thing that is really new to Lee is the idea of paper fast passes. He's been to WDW with me twice, and each time he had a MagicBand. When I explained that we need to go to kiosks and get pieces of paper he just looked puzzled. I have a feeling he isn't going to like this particular part of Disneyland.

Our trip will start Monday September 28th. We have the first flight out of Boston and we are flying directly into LAX. We are renting a car and driving to a good neighbor hotel. We have planned out that we will have a half day Monday, full day Tuesday, and full day Wednesday in Disneyland. Because he hasn't been to LA before, Thursday and Friday we will spend with friends and other attractions in the Anaheim/LA area.

We have already purchased our tickets for Mickey's Halloween Part for Wednesday September 30th and we can't wait!!! For our honeymoon we attended Mickey's Not-So-Scary Halloween Party and fell in love. We rode every single ride, trick-or-treated, and met some of the Disney Villians. I will be dressing up as David Tennants Dr. Who (Her Universe is an amazing website). Lee hasn't decided on who he will be yet, but he purchased a Jack Skellington costume t-shirt at WDW last year. We will be meeting up with a few friends of ours for the party, so who knows what their costume choices will be!

I have also decided to take advantage of PhotoPass. The price is totally worth it. I'm not 100% sure of what we are actually getting, but if we get all of our ride photos, and character meet & greet photos, I'm pretty happy.

I know reservations are typically not needed as much at DLR as they are WDW, but we did make one breakfast ADR at Ariels Grotto for Tuesday morning. I'm not sure if breakfast starts before the park opens or after, but we have park hoppers and reservations. I was thinking of maybe making another for breakfast with Minnie & Friends, but only if we can get into the Magic Kingdom early.

I think I'm going to read more trip reports and find some touring plans. With the 60th Anniversary and the many parts of the DLR that Lee hasn't seen I want to make sure to get everything in 3 days!

So here are a few things I would like to do, but not sure if we can get to all of this
-Mickey & The Magical Map
-Mickeys Soundsational Parade
-Paint The Night
-World of Color Celebrate
-Lunch at Blue Bayou or Cafe Orleans?
-Drinks at Trader Sams
-Carnation Cafe (breakfast stuff?)


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[TheMaxRebo]

joining in! Looking forward to seeing your plans come together and how your trip goes. We have our first trip to DLR planned for October so looking for any and all tips.

I had experienced paper FP (or FP- as I tend to call them) at WDW so I am somewhat looking forward to experiencing them again at DLR. I am finding it very different to plan a DLR trip compared to visiting WDW. Not better or worse, just different

As far as pre-park opening ADRs, I was looking into that as we are hoping to do one for Minnie's during our trip. From what I can find they don't have them in the traditional sense like they do at WDW, but you can book them for when they would open the main gates but before they have rope drop at the individual lands (so this typically means like 20-30 minutes before the listed park opening time). Also, if that park has the magical morning you can book a meal during that extra time even if you aren't eligible for the magical morning time (hope that all makes sense)

 

[MandaPandaPuddinPie]

As far as pre-park opening ADRs, I was looking into that as we are hoping to do one for Minnie's during our trip. From what I can find they don't have them in the traditional sense like they do at WDW, but you can book them for when they would open the main gates but before they have rope drop at the individual lands (so this typically means like 20-30 minutes before the listed park opening time). Also, if that park has the magical morning you can book a meal during that extra time even if you aren't eligible for the magical morning time (hope that all makes sense)

We booked our Ariels Grotto breakfast and I'm very excited! Can't wait to meet her and all of her friends!

The paper fast passes are fine, it's just not something DH will be used to. It might take him all 3 days to understand lol

 

[MandaPandaPuddinPie]

So here are a few updates I needed to make but have been busy at work…

-We've been keeping an eye on our hotel. Come to find out this is NOT a good neighbor hotel. It's just something that is very close to Disney property. DH and I have been following TripAdvisor, and other forums for reviews. On Monday night we saw a picture of someone who had been bitten by a bed bug. We quickly got on the phone and started calling Travelocity to switch hotels. We now have switched to the Pepper Tree Hotel which is 3 miles from Disney property. Does anyone have any experience with this hotel?

-I ordered my Mickey Halloween Party tickets July 30th. I have yet to receive them in the mail. I don't know when the appropriate time is to panic, but I'm on the verge. It's August 19th! Where are my tickets? UPDATE: Tickets arrived yesterday in the mail! Super excited. Talk about waiting until the last minute haha

 

[MandaPandaPuddinPie]

Hello All! More Updates….

- I have finally managed to pick out my costume for Mickeys Halloween party!

Not too bad? Def. not wearing the the fishnets and the large black heels. Gonna go with black tights and converse all start sneakers. My husband is very torn between being Jack Skellington or a Storm Trooper. I've found a t-shirt, he just hasn't been able to pull the trigger.
- My friend has forgotten to purchase his Halloween tickets, so now I'm trying to scramble and get two more! Yikes!
- We are going to purchase Disney Gift Cards through Target and buy our tickets when we arrive for general admission. Now, if anyone knows:
can we purchase tickets at the gate with like 4 or 5 gift cards?

- We now have decided that we need to pay a visit to Universal Studios Hollywood. Anyone have any tips or tricks about this particular park? I have not visited since 2001 and don't really remember the difference between LA and Orlando.​

 

[MandaPandaPuddinPie]

We are 10 days from going to Disneyland!!! Had to purchase extra tickets for my friends for Mickeys Halloween Party on the 30th.

So I think our schedule will goes as follows

Monday
6:00am Take-off
9:00am Landing in LAX
Assuming it takes us two/two & and half hours to get our luggage, car an drive to Anaheim we should be at Disneyland by 1pm
1:00pm Lunch at Downtown Disney
2:00pm Enter Disneyland

Just found out that Disneyland has their Halloween Party the same night we arrive. I wonder if we should do World of Color that night? Maybe do the dinner package?

Tuesday
Wake up at 7:30am since it will be 10:30am our time.
9:00am Reservations for breakfast at Ariels Grotto
We will then meet up with our friends after to see a few shows and some rides.
Since there is no party we should stay for the fireworks

Wednesday
Wake up at 8/8:30am so we can have a bit of a later start, and have a casual breakfast
Disneyland/California Adventure till 2pm
2/2:30 come back to our hotel for a quick shower, snack and change into our Halloween outfits.
3/3:30pm Enter Disneyland for Mickeys Halloween Party
Trick-Or-Treating, Haunted Mansion Holiday and Space Mountain Ghost Galaxy are a must!
We will watch the Halloween fireworks as well as Paint The Night!


I'm so excited! We also have a punch list of some foods we want to snack on such as;
beignets
dole whip
churros (orea and regular)
deep fried pickle spears
Plaza Inn chicken dinner
gumbo
lobster nachos
tigger tails
something from Award Weiners
something 60th themed



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[MandaPandaPuddinPie]

Just decided to go online and see if the World of Color Dinner package was available for Monday night. We got 4:40pm reservations! Woo-hoo! Perfect viewing and a great meal.

Only 7 more days to go!​

 

[MandaPandaPuddinPie]

Hurry back….Hurry back… Don't forget to bring your death certificate.

We're back! So this is now going to become our Disneyland Trip Report from Monday September 28th until Friday October 2nd!!!


Disneyland Halloween 60th Day 1
The alarm went off at 2:30am. Yikes thats early! DH and myself had a 6am flight (which is 5:30am boarding) and we live about an hour from Logan Aiport without traffic. Packing was all done the evening before..

Believe it or not that was MY suitcase. We try to a) bring a blanket so snacks don't get crushed, and b) it's also for my comfort since I have particular smell I'm used to and I hate certain fabric softeners and detergents because they irritate my allergies.

My father in law was awake when we dropped off our Disney Dog at 3:30am. He was also coming with us to the airport. Traffic was non existent and we were at Logan in plenty of time. Went through security with zero problems. It was then DH decided Dunks was a must!

The gentleman next to me does not look pleased I'm taking a picture at 4am! Haha
With coffee, donuts and bagels in our system we were ready for our 6 hour flight to LAX! I try not to take pictures while flying for a few reasons
1- DH is a terrible traveler. I love him to death but he gets cranky, is a germ-a-phobe and just can't sleep. So I avoid trying to lean across or even take his picture while we are 30,000 feet.
2- We only used our iPhones for cameras this time. I don't have the time or the energy or money to invest in a nice camera. We also had PhotoPass so this seemed like a great deal and to get some great photos.
3- DH also suffers from stranger danger. He hates sitting next to people he doesn't know, so I always do it, and looks how pissed the guy above us looks?! Not taking pics across a strangers lap either!

We did however get a brand new plane! After boarding I noticed how much little space there was between myself and the seat in front of me. Everything was shiny and new. They probably added a few more seats and scrimped on the leg room. Oh well…

Oh well! 5 1/2 hours later we were in sunny LA! We didn't take any immediate pictures because we rented a car from Thrifty and who wants to see the inside of a car rental establishment? Not I!

DH noticed that we hadn't put anything in our stomachs since 4am and he was noticing a rumbling in his tummy. I suggested we stop at the In & Out Burger 3 blocks from our hotel since it would be opening by the time we arrived in Anaheim. He thought this was a great idea, and we re-routed our GPS.

In & Out happens to be one of my favorite places to eat in Southern California (in terms of fast-food). I'm also going to remind everyone this is DHs first time in Cali. The farthest he's been is Las Vegas with my family, and that was 3 years ago! So when we pulled into In & Out he took one look at the menu and was shocked how small it was. I gave him a quick run down and also told him about the secret menu. He walked up the the cashier and ordered a 'double double with.' I had 'hamburger with, french fries and a vanilla shake.' The total came to about $10. I was semi shocked since this seemed like a cheap bill.

Because this In & Out had just opened at 10am the service wasn't all that great. The cashier didn't add my shake, so that was one reason the bill was so cheap. We also had to re-order my husbands burger because he was unaware of their sauce that came on it, and he was simply grossed out by not knowing what was actually in it. But we made it through!

So I think in an earlier post I mentioned that we had to switch hotels. We were originally staying at the Clarion, but after hearing some not so great things we switched to Hotel Pepper Tree seeing 4 stars on TripAdvisor. So when we first pulled up to the hotel my husband blurts out "Are we in the ghetto!?" From the buildings around it, and the general upkeep we were very unsure if we should even stay there that evening. After we walked in we were pleasantly surprised. Staff was friendly, nice small swimming pool, and every room was easy to get to. (Also some of these photos are borrowed as we didn't take pictures of our hotel.)

I was aware that check in time was at 3pm, and just assumed they would hold our bags until we came back later, but they already had a room ready for us! We were given a parking pass, WIFI password and paid the Resort Fee ($3 a day) since the Travelocity Deal did not cover that. There is a restaurant out front where the continental breakfast is served, but no one is allowed to park there. All parking is behind the building, but there is an entrance directly into the hotel lobby from out back.

Going to come back after dinner with a hotel review

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[TheMaxRebo]

Welcome back! Hope you had a great trip. Traveling that early in the morning is always an experience.

It's so true how with the new plans they just cram the seats in there. Reminded of that whenever I get an older plane and realize how much room there used to be between rows.

Glad your hotel was better than the first impressions it gave!