emacat
Polishing up my ears
- Joined
- Apr 3, 2010
- Messages
- 482
So, after a busy time once we got home, I'm making myself sit down to tell you all some of my thoughts on our recent trip- Dec. 15-21st. I promise I'll try not to cry about having to sit at home typing, instead of being at the parks having an awesome time!
We flew into SNA, and I once again have to say that we will certainly use that airport for our future travel. It was great to fly in to, very easy to locate taxis and shuttles, and flying out was also a breeze. Huge improvement over LAX and a much shorter drive to the hotel. We used taxi on the way there, and SuperShuttle on the way back home.
The Paradise Pier was great! It was a lovely, well-decorated hotel with a gorgeous tree (see if I ever doubt Sherry's wisdom again....). Check-in was a breeze, and the front desk made a big deal out of my daughter's birthday. Thanks to fellow Dis'ers, I was wise on the whole "glass elevator" thing, and we used that a lot while others were packed in front of the main elevators. The room was clean and beautifully decorated, and if I can figure out how to post a pic, I'll add one here. We were on the fourth floor, and even the carpet to the room was adorable, with hidden Mickeys. Again, I have to say, I was so impressed with this hotel, since I honestly was expecting something a little tired or worn down. Instead, it was filled with Disney Magic and fantastic details (granted, I wasn't looking for the Ritz...). My daughter adored the carolers, the Xmas decorations were great, and Santa was there in the mornings. There was a nice shop, and the pool, slide and hot tub were awesome. There wasn't a staff member we ran across that wasn't wonderful.
It was a bit of a walk to the parks, but I have to say, it really was more "magical" than coming from the Hojo (which I love also...I'm not downing on it!). Loved going through Downtown Disney in the morning, and it was great to use the Grand Californian entrance to CA. Loved the little back walk to DD by Compass Cafe.
The parks were fun, as always, and gorgeously decorated for Christmas. Our first full day it was nice and quiet, and we were there for 11 hours, riding everything between the two parks. Good thing we did, because after the 16th, things got pretty busy!
The worst, I thought, was the night of the 17th. The crush for fireworks was so bad, you truly could not even move through paths. People were at a dead standstill, and it was a nightmare even trying to go around in Fantasyland or Tomorrowland. I'm not claustrophobic, but it was so bad that even I was starting to stress out, when they finally opened the cast walkways behind main street to the guests, in an effort to get people to be able to move and get out of the park. I honestly thought that if a kid fell in the crowd like that, they would get trampled. I've been to DL for several trips, and during some busy seasons, but that's definately the worst I've seen.
Other than that, though, crowds were heavy, but manageable. On Monday, we ditched DL around noon (it was very busy!) and headed to CA, where things seemed much calmer. My DD is a ride fanatic, and so the Holiday Mansion was a huge win, Pirates is always great, and the "new" Goofy's Sky School is one she'll ride over and over again. She also could have permanently lived at Grizzly River Run. She also kindly waited 25 min (not a bad wait at all) for TSMM with mom, since I really wanted to go on that again.
Ariel was wonderful! I just loved that ride, and the line goes VERY quickly. One night, there as virtually no wait, and I conned her into letting me go two or three times (she likes the big rides, I like the cutesy stuff). Another day, I went once more, and the line was outside and around. Still, it only took 10-15 minutes. It's a continually loading ride, so that makes a big difference.
Phineas and Ferb's dance thing is hugely loud, and I would have been happy to pull the plug on that obnoxious thing, but other than that, CA is really coming together, and I like the new eating area over near Goofy's at the Pier. I do have to admit the long blue "construction" walls at the entrance really annoyed me, as they made it such a long, busy walkway. But, for those of you going after construction is done, it looks like it will be quite impressive!
I lucked into several of the 20% off coupons for retail purchases that were mentioned onthe boards. All in all, saved me $140 on all my various Christmas, etc. purchases. Only bad thing was, I had to use one of them to buy a large suitcase to haul all the gifts, etc. home! So much for my normal "space-saver bags," and fit in two carryons and a backpack that I normally manage.
I even started doing pressed pennies along with our pins! (oh, and thanks to the bartender at PP, who had small lines of parents gratefully hitting the elevators back to our rooms with drinks in hand. 
)
So, it was a wonderful, fun trip with an awesome DD. Now, if I can just win the lottery, we can go back every few weekends and keep re-living it!
We flew into SNA, and I once again have to say that we will certainly use that airport for our future travel. It was great to fly in to, very easy to locate taxis and shuttles, and flying out was also a breeze. Huge improvement over LAX and a much shorter drive to the hotel. We used taxi on the way there, and SuperShuttle on the way back home.
The Paradise Pier was great! It was a lovely, well-decorated hotel with a gorgeous tree (see if I ever doubt Sherry's wisdom again....). Check-in was a breeze, and the front desk made a big deal out of my daughter's birthday. Thanks to fellow Dis'ers, I was wise on the whole "glass elevator" thing, and we used that a lot while others were packed in front of the main elevators. The room was clean and beautifully decorated, and if I can figure out how to post a pic, I'll add one here. We were on the fourth floor, and even the carpet to the room was adorable, with hidden Mickeys. Again, I have to say, I was so impressed with this hotel, since I honestly was expecting something a little tired or worn down. Instead, it was filled with Disney Magic and fantastic details (granted, I wasn't looking for the Ritz...). My daughter adored the carolers, the Xmas decorations were great, and Santa was there in the mornings. There was a nice shop, and the pool, slide and hot tub were awesome. There wasn't a staff member we ran across that wasn't wonderful.
It was a bit of a walk to the parks, but I have to say, it really was more "magical" than coming from the Hojo (which I love also...I'm not downing on it!). Loved going through Downtown Disney in the morning, and it was great to use the Grand Californian entrance to CA. Loved the little back walk to DD by Compass Cafe.
The parks were fun, as always, and gorgeously decorated for Christmas. Our first full day it was nice and quiet, and we were there for 11 hours, riding everything between the two parks. Good thing we did, because after the 16th, things got pretty busy!
The worst, I thought, was the night of the 17th. The crush for fireworks was so bad, you truly could not even move through paths. People were at a dead standstill, and it was a nightmare even trying to go around in Fantasyland or Tomorrowland. I'm not claustrophobic, but it was so bad that even I was starting to stress out, when they finally opened the cast walkways behind main street to the guests, in an effort to get people to be able to move and get out of the park. I honestly thought that if a kid fell in the crowd like that, they would get trampled. I've been to DL for several trips, and during some busy seasons, but that's definately the worst I've seen.
Other than that, though, crowds were heavy, but manageable. On Monday, we ditched DL around noon (it was very busy!) and headed to CA, where things seemed much calmer. My DD is a ride fanatic, and so the Holiday Mansion was a huge win, Pirates is always great, and the "new" Goofy's Sky School is one she'll ride over and over again. She also could have permanently lived at Grizzly River Run. She also kindly waited 25 min (not a bad wait at all) for TSMM with mom, since I really wanted to go on that again.
Ariel was wonderful! I just loved that ride, and the line goes VERY quickly. One night, there as virtually no wait, and I conned her into letting me go two or three times (she likes the big rides, I like the cutesy stuff). Another day, I went once more, and the line was outside and around. Still, it only took 10-15 minutes. It's a continually loading ride, so that makes a big difference.
Phineas and Ferb's dance thing is hugely loud, and I would have been happy to pull the plug on that obnoxious thing, but other than that, CA is really coming together, and I like the new eating area over near Goofy's at the Pier. I do have to admit the long blue "construction" walls at the entrance really annoyed me, as they made it such a long, busy walkway. But, for those of you going after construction is done, it looks like it will be quite impressive!
I lucked into several of the 20% off coupons for retail purchases that were mentioned onthe boards. All in all, saved me $140 on all my various Christmas, etc. purchases. Only bad thing was, I had to use one of them to buy a large suitcase to haul all the gifts, etc. home! So much for my normal "space-saver bags," and fit in two carryons and a backpack that I normally manage.
I even started doing pressed pennies along with our pins! (oh, and thanks to the bartender at PP, who had small lines of parents gratefully hitting the elevators back to our rooms with drinks in hand. )So, it was a wonderful, fun trip with an awesome DD. Now, if I can just win the lottery, we can go back every few weekends and keep re-living it!
