Trip report 10/20-10/22, lots of pics! *Completed!!*

[disneycutie84]

Hey everyone, thought I would finally get started on our trip report from our wild and wacky weekend trip! Hopefully you enjoy it, I tried to take pictures of things I know Disers like to see; hotel rooms, food, decorations, etc. Anyway, how about a little background info?
THE MAIN EVENT: A full weekend at DLR, staying two nights at The Raddison Hotel, with ADRs at Goofy's Kitchen & Blue Bayou! This trip was meant to celebrate my bday, and Dbf's bday since we are both October babies and within two weeks of each other.
THE CAST:
Me - Disney fan forever, obsessed with planning Disney trips of any kind, and loves to shop! I have recently discovered a new love, taking pictures of everything in sight with my digital camera!! Favorite characters: Mickey, Captain Hook, Aurora, Belle, and Eeyore.
DBF - A really great guy, loves Disney but not as much as me, pretty much just goes with the flow cause he knows it makes me happy. Favorite characters: any villian.

Friday, October 20th 2006. Arrival Day
We woke up that morning with nothing packed, the apartment not cleaned, and a kitty that needed lots of attention before we left him for a few days. Normally I would have been very prepared for this trip, but college midterms left both of us in a weird haze. I just couldn't muster up the energy to pack ahead of time, not when I had hundreds of pages worth of reading to accomplish and exams to pass.
If nothing else, this trip was going to be a welcome escape from school and work. Both of us needed it BADLY, and we needed some time together to just enjoy ourselves.
So we went through the routine of getting ready and packing everything up. After cleaning the apartment, packing, and getting kitty stocked up on food and water for the weekend, it was around noon. I was ready to leave! Ahhh, but there was one problem. We had to wait until my UPS delivery came, because I had specifically scheduled it for delivery on this day. Fridays are the only weekday where I am home, so it was important that I got it. And what was in this UPS package you ask? Well, Yankee Candle stuff of course!
It took until waaaay past two oclock before the package arrived, and once it was safe in our apartment I was springing to leave! Lets see....Baggalini....check....Crocs....check....camera...check....tickets...check. Ok, lets go!!!
Next up: We arrive at our hotel, and take a walk through Downtown Disney!

 

[disneycutie84]

Friday, October 20th 2006. Our arrival day, continued!
So we finally got on the road and began our drive from North County San Diego (San Marcos to be exact) to Anaheim. Under perfect conditions, this drive averages about and hour and fifteen minutes. Sometimes less. On a Friday afternoon around 3-3:30 pm, well lets just say it increases significantly.
On this particular day, our drive was about 2 hours. As soon as we hit San Clemente we slowed down to a crawl. This continued all the way into Irvine! Ugh. I'm sure it could have been worse, but at the time I was so excited to get to the hotel that I was going crazy in that car!
At last we see the sign for "Disney Way" and I started bouncing around in my seat! Wooo hoooo, we made it! Our hotel was located just a block away from Disneyland so we found it pretty easily. I had stayed here once before, but DBF never had. In fact, DBF has never stayed overnight while visiting Disneyland. Shocking, I know. What planet does he come from????
We check into the hotel with no problems, and we even manage to get a room with a king size bed! The lady at the front desk tells us this room is one of the larger rooms they have. It was very roomy! I was definitely shocked. I managed to take a few pictures of the room before we got settled.

It might not have been the swankiest hotel on the block, but it was clean, comfortable, and quiet. Thats what I need out of a hotel. Especially the clean and comfortable part.
As soon as we got settled we decided to go downstairs to the hotel restaurant to eat an early dinner. The Raddison has Pickford's Restaurant as well as Pickford's Pub onsite. A pub & a restaurant at my hotel! What more could I ask for?! We both ordered cheeseburgers and fries, and although the food was pricey it was very good. Our waiter was nice and the place was quiet. Very relaxing. Sorry, no pictures of this meal.
After this we went back to our hotel and grabbed sweatshirts. It was time for Downtown Disney! Our plan was to walk from our hotel, through Downtown Disney and all the way to Goofy's Kitchen at the Disneyland Hotel. Why? Because I wanted to see how long it was going to take us to walk there the next morning. I like to get a feel for things before I actually try them. Thats the obsessive planner in me.
And what a long walk it was!! It took 30 mins! But, this probably had to do with the sheer number of people we had to navigate around in Downtown Disney. I wasn't too worried about how long it would take us in the morning, I doubted very many people would be walking around at 7:30 am.
Anyway, we found Goofy's kitchen and I became so much more excited for our breakfast the next morning once I peeked through the windows and saw characters walking around! It looked soooo fun! After that we walked back through Downtown Disney and went into World of Disney. I was very suprised by my self control...I didn't buy a single thing! But that doesn't mean I didn't come close to breaking down and buying the whole store. heehee.
On our way out of Downtown Disney, we stopped by the candy corn letters in front of California Adventure and took a picture of me and the giant letter A.

Up Next: our breakfast at Goofy's kitchen, and a tiring day at California Adventure!!

 

[disneycutie84]

Saturday, October 21st 2006. Day 2!
On the agenda for our second day was an 8am ADR for Goofy's Kitchen and a day at California Adventure. We also planned on going over to Disneyland that evening to watch Fantasmic. (The keyword there is planned . Fantasmic on a Saturday night? Oh boy. )
I woke up around 5:30 am for no reason what so ever. I didn't need to be up for another 45 mins but I just couldn't sleep any longer. I am weird like that, it takes me a little while to get adjusted when I'm sleeping in a new place. The bed was really comfortable and I wish I could have just rolled over and gone back to sleep but alas...I was wide awake!
I made some coffee and ate one of the granola bars we had packed. I needed something to hold me over until breakfast. I had nothing else better to do so I showered and got completely ready. At this point DBF was just waking up and not looking so happy. Lets just say he isn't much of a morning person. Ok, he just plain grouchy in the morning. I have learned from experience that its best to leave him alone for the first few mins after he wakes up. Either that or speak to him at your own risk.
When it was time to leave at 7:30, he was still in a foul mood. The entire time we were walking to the restaurant I was thinking, how could anyone be in a bad mood when it was time to go eat with characters?! Come on! I did notice that he started to cheer up a little once we made it to the restaurant. Maybe it was the walk that was bothering him.
Anyway. We checked in for our reservation and sat in the waiting area. Suddenly Pluto came out! He must have seen me with my giant grin because he waved and motioned for me to come over. I jumped up and ran over there with no hesitation at all! He was playing with my hair and pretending to lick my face!! It was very cute. DBf came over and we took a picture together.

Then our name was called! We were seated at our table and I was very happy to see our balloons and goody bags waiting for us. I had made sure to add the bday package to our reservation!
Here are some pictures of the balloons and the goody bags/contents.

The goody bags are definitely geared towards children, but DBf enjoyed the foam puzzle and he kept trying to build it into a cube. I loved the party hats and the maracas. I would randomly shake the maracas whenever the mood struck. It was nice to have the option to be annoying.
Before we even had a chance to get up and get some food, the Mad Hatter decided to stop by and say hello! He was funny! He put one of the party hats on DBF's head and threw the other one on the floor! He then asked DBf what he was going to grab from the buffet to eat. DBF said, "I'm gonna get a denver omlet." The Mad Hatter then said, "Does the denver omlet have people from denver in it?"
DBF responded, yes, and the Mad Hatter looked horrified! He turned to me and whispered, "You might want to rethink this relationship." HAHAHAHAHA! It was priceless. I never got the chance to take a picture of this interaction because it was so entertaining I didn't even think to grab my camera.
We went to the buffet after that and grabbed some food. Let me tell you, everything looked fantastic! I had no idea there would be so much food. Here is a picture of what I grabbed the first time around.

All of it was good; the eggs, the french toast, the bacon, everything! DBf really loved his omlet and said it was amazing. Just as we were enjoying our food and coffee, Captain Hook decided to stop by for a visit! He was hilarious! First he came by and acted like he was going to pop our balloons with his hook! I said, "Hey! Don't do that!" He stopped and shrugged his shoulders. Then he pointed to the balloons and pointed to us, as if to ask who's bday it was. I responded, "We are both celebrating our bdays." He shook his head. I said, "yes we are. Its not our exact bdays today, but we are both celebrating them."
He pointed at me and shook his head! Captain Hook thought I was lying!!! We continued to go back and forth about this for a few minutes and the interaction was really great. Here is the picture we took together.

At this point we got up to get some dessert and managed to miss seeing Alice! I was so sad. But it was ok because take a look at my desserts!

It was some kind of cream puff, a crossiant, some soft serve ice cream, and worms n dirt! YUM! And no, I didn't eat all of it, but I did want to taste. Then our waiter came over with cupcakes for us and a few other servers joined him in singing happy bday! Dale was in the area and danced around while they sang to us! It was soooo fun! Then Dale tried to help me blow out my candle, which was also quite amusing.
Here is a picture of my cupcake. If you look to the side of it, you can see where Alice signed our table when she came by.

The cupcake was delish! I was in chocolate heaven. DBf was too full to eat his. Dale kept running back and forth between tables so I never got a picture with him, although he did blow me kisses everytime he walked by.
Next up was Goofy and he definitely made a stop at our table. We made sure to tell him all of his food was very good. He seemed pleased.

By now, I could tell DBf was pretty much ready to go. He isn't really one for characters and I accept that. I am just glad he sat through this breakfast and even participated in the character interaction. Plus, he was there to take pictures of me and the characters!
So we grabbed all of our stuff and headed out, after thanking our waiter for being so great! It was a very enjoyable experience and one I would certainly reccomend for anyone!
Next up: California Adventure, and will we make it to Fantasmic?!

 

[Misskitty3]

GREAT report!

Thanks for sharing!

 

[disney-super-mom]

Great trip report so far. I'm really enjoying it.

When's the next edition?

 

[Alex2kMommy]

What great pictures! I love that you ordered birthday bags for you both!

And I laughed out loud at your interaction with the Mad Hatter, hilarious! Kinda funny about your DBF's mood. If this isn't his thing, he clearly did it because he loves you, and that's very sweet.

Are you dressing up for Halloween? I think you'd make a good Snow White, and he could be... Hmmm, let me think a minute...

 

[disneycutie84]

Hi everyone! Thanks for all your great comments, I won't be able to post another "edition" until later tonight because I'm at school/work until 7! In fact, I'm in my social psych lab right now!
Stay tuned!!

 

[disneycutie84]

Annnddd....drumroll please....we're back on the air!
Saturday, October 21 2006. Day 2, continued...
*Before I begin this installment, let me just say that I am going to dissapoint you all with the minimal amount of pictures I took while we were at California Adventure. For some reason, probably the fact that I was really tired, I had NO motivation to capture photo-worthy moments. Unacceptable, I know. Please forgive. * Moving on!
So, after our very enjoyable meal at Goofy's Kitchen, we headed straight to California Adventure for the 10am opening. Their opening ceremony isn't much. A couple CMs come out and do a little countdown and then the gates open up. I think they could do so much more, but oh well.
Naturally, the first thing we did was take a picture of me next to the Halloween displays in the front plaza. (Did I mention my bday is Halloween?)

Then we rushed over to Soarin', which is easily my favorite ride in the entire park! While waiting in the very short line, a nice older man from Nothern California spoke with us. He was so funny and had alot to say about that area of California. I love meeting interesting people in line!! The ride was great, as always, and I got a little teary at the end when the screen pans over Disneyland. I just love that part!
After Soarin we wandered aimlessly through the park. It was actually really relaxing just walking around and enjoying the sights. Then we decided to hit up Monster's Inc and we were very happy to see that the line was minimal. This ride is a favorite of DBf and I because we both love the movie soooo much. For some reason we think its just about the most hilarious movie we have ever seen.
I then had the urge to visit the Animation Building so we did, and we had alot of fun in The Beast's Library and Ursula's Grotto. DBf and I did one of the voice things where you say the lines to a scene from a Disney movie and then its played back to you. DBf was such a crack up during this! He did the stupidest voice I have ever heard, and when it played back, I was !
Then we wandered around the area and I noticed Ms. Cruella DeVil's trailer! I just had to take a picture in front of it!!!

My memory is a little fuzzy after that, but I am pretty sure we went to Muppet Vision 3-D because DBf had never seen it. I love the Muppets and he really enjoyed the show. At this point, we were ready for an afternoon break at the hotel and some lunch sounded good too! We left the park and stopped my McDonalds down the street for some chicken nuggets.
By the time we got back to the hotel it was around 1 pm. I layed down on the bed and passed out! That had to have been one of the most glorious naps I have ever experienced. When I woke up around 3, DBf was sitting on the couch, watching discovery channel and indulging in a few "adult beverages." I could not believe it! I thought he would at least sleep a little since he was so cranky. So when I asked him, "Why in the world are you drinking at 3 pm in the afternoon?"
He so eloquently answered, "We're on vacation."

Classic.
More to come! The conclusion of day 2, and a few more pictures!

 

[disneycutie84]

Saturday, October 21st 2006. Day 2 continues some more...will it ever end?!
So we went back to California Adventure for the remainder of the afternoon/evening with DBf in a considerably better mood. ( Gee, I wonder why?)
The first thing we did was ride Mohoulland Maddness. <---please excuse spelling and/or mis-naming of ride. I hardly ever ride the thing so I am unfamiliar. But anyway, it was actually pretty fun. We were in the mood for something silly so it was worth it!
Then we stopped over by the warf and tried to get into a showing of "Golden Screams", which is the villian show thats been set up for the Halloween celebration. Unfortunately the line was waaay too long and the CM upfront informed us that this show was probably going to be full. I was a little sad, but no big deal.
I did manage to snap a picture of this beautiful flower.

And some ducks floating around in the water.

We then realized we were hungry again so we made a pit stop at the Taste Pilots Grill! YUM!!! I love the burger station where you can load up on toppings and condiments. I like salsa and jalapenos on mine! We sat on the patio outside and people watched for a few mins after our meal. This is seriously one of our favorite activities together. I know it sounds silly, but we usually have the same observations regarding other people and its a cute little bonding experience we have whenever we are out and about.
After that, we went to the Aladdin show. I absolutely LOVE this show and occasionally will buy a park hopper ticket just see it. Its soooo amazing! The stage, the songs, the dancing, and GENIE! What a great actor. I really can't say enough positive words about it.
Now at this point you're probably wondering..."Why haven't they ridden TOT yet?" "Why haven't they ridden California Screamin yet?" Well the answer to that is, we just didn't want to. Although I do hate roller coasters, DBf usually goes on them. But our day at DCA was a nice relaxing one. It was a wandering day. A day to linger in shops and watch shows. Just a day to enjoy each other's company and "chill out."
As we wandered around the park one last time before hopping over to Disneyland, I took this picture of Ariel's Grotto restaurant. I think it came out beautifully!

Now, I'm not even going to get into great detail about what happened to our Fantasmic plans. All I have to say is, when we went over to Disneyland that night it was unbelievably crowded. To the point where I was too frustrated to stay any longer. No matter how much I wanted to see Fantasmic, nothing will make me push myself past my limits. I was willing to go back to the hotel early and rest up for the next day, instead of pushing through crowds all night.
So no Fantasmic for us. Oh well. It worked out great in the end because DBF and I went back to the hotel, watched some tv, and fell asleep early! And a good night's rest is what we needed, we were off to Disneyland the next day!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

 

[Minniespal]

Enjoyed reading your reports ~ Thanx for sharing.

 

[disneycutie84]

Just wanted to let all of you know that I will be finishing this report up this weekend. So expect the Disneyland part to be posted sometime soon! I have alot of pictures for that one.

 

[disneycutie84]

Sunday, October 22nd 2006. Day 3: DISNEYLAND!!!
We woke up that day around 7:00 or 7:30 feeling alot more rested and refreshed than we had the previous day. DBf was in a much better mood and frankly, so was I.
Quickly, we dressed and packed up our stuff. After completing checkout we left the hotel around 9 am, right as Disneyland was opening. Since the front desk informed us that we would have to pay to park there for the day (10 dollars) we decided to just park at DL. I felt alot better about keeping our luggage in the DL parking structure than in the back of a hotel parking lot. But maybe thats just me.
*Before I go on with our day at DL I would just like to add that our stay at the Radisson was very comfortable. We really didn't have any problems with the room or the staff, and actually felt the service was better than average. I would reccomend this hotel to anyone!!*
Ok! So we got to the entrance plaza and into DL around 9:30. A little later than I wanted but that was ok. The park was still very mellow at this time.
Here are some pictures of all the Halloween decorations in the front of the park and on Main Street.

Everything looked wonderful!!! I love Halloween!
Anyhoo, the first thing we wanted to do was grab fastpasses for Space Mountain so we headed to TommorowLand. After getting the fastpasses we rode Buzz Lightyear which had a minimal wait. I love that ride! Its so awesome, definitely one of the better recent additions to DLR. Here we are, defeating Zurg!

Gah! Someone please tell me why he always has to beat me on this ride? Ahh, I'll move on. Thats another issue for another thread.
At this point we were a bit hungry. Knowing that we had Blue Bayou reservations at 12:30 we decided to stop at the pastry cart by the castle and get us some yummy snacks! I had a cinnamon twisty thing and DBF had a chocolate crossiant. It was heavenly!!
We decided to take a stroll through Fantasyland and over to Frontierland. I believe we rode Snow White and Pinnochio at this point but it could have been a little later. Anyway, we were walking along the trail from Fantasyland to Frontierland when we saw the Year of a Million Dreams people!!!! They were standing in the middle of the walkway with duffle bags. Naturally I grabbed DBF's arm and started walking a little faster. And it seemed we were in the right place at the right time because we got.....DREAM MICKEY EARS!

Lalalalalala! To say that I was excited was an understatement. I wore these ears all the way back to Tommorowland and I wore them proudly. In fact, we were so excited about the ears that we forgot to do what we wanted to do in Frontierland (see the animals and Woody's halloween roundup!). It was ok though, it was time to use our fastpasses!!!
To be continued...

 

[disneycutie84]

Day 3 continued....
We rode Space Mountain and that was fun as always, and then we decided to head over to Adventureland to grab Indiana Jones FPs. We got them and realized it was time for our lunch at Blue Bayou!
I had to dissapoint everyone but I did not take pictures at this meal. I know, I know....I'm horrible. The thing is, the atmosphere was so great that I didn't want to ruin it by taking a picture. In fact, taking a picture was the last thing on my mind. I just wanted to enjoy our meal.
We somehow got a waterside table without even asking and the view was great! All the boats passing by us and the swampy area off in the distance... very romantic. Our server was nice as well, I can't remember his name though. He was very attentive and prompt. DBF ordered the short ribs and I ordered the mollasses brined pork chop. We both had the Blue Bayou potatoes and grilled veggies. OMG. DELICOUS. Everything was good. Seriously. The potatoes were sinful. I do not know what kind of cheese they use on them but WOW!!!!! My pork chop was great too!
It was a great experience. I liked that we got to keep the menus and I hung one up in our kitchen when we got home. Although the place is pricey, its worth it. Easily the best meal I have had at DLR.
So we left the restaurant with our tummies full and ready to his some more rides! But before that, we stopped and listened to the jazz band in New Orleans Square. They were great! There was a woman dancing and singing with them. She said her name was Queenie and she was very cool.

I think we rode Winnie the Pooh next and then grabbed fastpasses for Splash Mountain. If my memory serves me correctly, we then went to Indiana Jones and Big Thunder Mountain. Two of our favorite rides, especially Big Thunder!!!! Finally we remembered to stop at the Big Thunder Ranch and see the goats and the other animals. I really love the cow, she's so cute! Inside the cabin there, they had jack-o-lantern men all set up in scenes so you could take a picture with them. DBf and I chose the poker set. Here is our picture.

When we left the ranch we noticed how thick the crowds were getting. Ick. So we wandered over to the Princess Fantasy Faire (i think thats what its called) to see what was going on. The show was already in progress so we kinda watched from the side. It seemed like a really cute show for little girls, just a bunch of princesses dancing around and doing little things onstage. Cute! Then I noticed the crown making station. I was over there in no time, and they gave me a crown and some stickers to decorate it with!!!! I used some on my crown, but saved the rest for my scrapbook since the sticker page had all this cute jewels and princess themed stuff. We decided to leave and go over to Toontown. I just wanted to wander the area and maybe visit minnie. On our way out we saw Snow White! She walked by us very quickly because I think she was on her way to the show but she did smile and wave. I was so happy, Snow White was so sweet!
Oh, and here is a picture of me wearing my crown in Toontown.

I don't think we did much in ToonTown, just kinda looked at stuff. After that we hopped on the train at ToonTown station and rode it around the park, back to New Orleans Square. DBF had never really ridden the train through the whole park so he liked that. We decided that we should probably ride Haunted Mansion since the line had been long all day and it didn't seem like we were going to avoid it. It was 45 mins! UGH. It did go by alot quicker though. We were probably in line for 25 mins at the most. While we waited we came across the pumpkin king!

Both of us are HUGE Nightmare Before Christmas fans and so we always enjoy Haunted Mansion Holiday. My favorite part is the graveyard, the way its totally decked out in snow and jack-o-lanterns. Very cool.
It was late afternoon/early evening at this time and I believe we used our fastpasses for Splash Mountain. Ok. Here comes the story of the day. So we got on the ride with practically no wait, thanks to Mr. Fastpass, and asked to be seated near the back of the log because we didn't want to get too wet. There was a young girl in front of me, and her father in the very front. We did get a bit wet on the little drops throughout the ride, but nothing too bad. Then came the big drop. I have ridden this ride more times than I can count and I have never gotten as wet as I did this time. It was crazy!!!! When we hit the bottom of that drop, it was like a wave of water gushed over the entire log!!!!!! Obviously the guy in front got the worst part of it, but DBf and I were soaked too. My hair was dripping as if I just got out of the SHOWER.
Yeaaahhh, so right after that ride we went to the nearest bathrooms and put our sweatshirts on. DBF removed his tshirt entirely and just wore his longsleeved Jack Skellington shirt because he was so soaked.
The rest of the day is kinda blurry because we were soooo tired. I know that we rode Pirates next and that was fun. I think we then visited the Disney Gallery after that, and then we got some yummy chili cheese fries over at The Golden Horseshoe.
It was around 8:30 and we were tired. We wanted to see Fantasmic, but at the time same we both wanted to head home. We had class the next day and needed our rest. Plus, I really wanted to go shopping! So we both decided that we would skip Fantasmic and shop instead. The sooner we shopped, the sooner we could head home. I got an Eeyore sleepshirt and some Disney coffee! YUM!
And so our wonderful trip came to an end. We said goodbye to Disneyland and Halloweentime, knowing that we probably won't make it back until January. But it was ok, we had a great time and managed to ride everything we wanted and still slow down and just enjoy the sights. Definitely the way to do Disney, in my opinion.
Here is one last picture for you guys to enjoy....

Thanks for reading my trip report! Hope it was good one!!!

 

[mystic_path]

Fantastic trip report. Im so happy I read it.

I just loved the part about the Mad Hatter. He is by far one of my favorite characters ever in the park just because he is so witty and funny! I could watch that guy all day. He can come up with stuff to amuze you at a drop of a hat which you wouldnt even think.

 

[Alex2kMommy]

Oh my gosh! I had seen pictures of the Halloween Mickey face at the entrance, but did not realize until I saw your picture that he's made out of little pumpkins! How totally cute!

I loved reading your TR, especially since you did some different things than we did. (And also some the same; the FOOLS who ride in the back of the log will always be soaked!)

 

[disneycutie84]

Oh my gosh! I had seen pictures of the Halloween Mickey face at the entrance, but did not realize until I saw your picture that he's made out of little pumpkins! How totally cute!

I loved reading your TR, especially since you did some different things than we did. (And also some the same; the FOOLS who ride in the back of the log will always be soaked!)

Isn't that the truth! But I think I have some kind of jinx on me. It does not matter where I sit on that ride, I get soaked. Other people will walk off dry, but not me. I am always soaked to the bone!
Eh, its worth it. I love that ride!!!

 

[serendipity]

thank you so much for your report! It's so much harder to find TR's for Disneyland!

 

[ta2edgoofy]

great report, Halloween is my favorite time at Disney, well except for the people!