Ultimate Disneyland Birthday Trip!-The Trip Report w/Pictures

[prettyprincessbelle]

I know! 5 hours is better than no hours! I would have been crying if I wasthisclose to Disneyland and didn't go in!!

 

[wendylady36]

How exciting that you got to go to Disneyland for 5 hours! One time, I went down to Newport Beach and San Diego and I managed to convince the person I was with to go to Disneyland on two of the days we were there. I was sneaky sneaky!

I love Newport Beach, it's so beautiful there.

It sounds like you had a great time. Less then three weeks until your BIG trip! And woohoo for getting your package!

I don't mind flying, but I don't like when it's a bumpy flight. I went to Seattle this past March and it was dark and rainy and the flight was really bumpy and it made me uncomfortable. I made it through alright though, obviously!

 

[AURORA73]

3 Days til my trip! I can't believe how close it is. Actually as of this moment it is 2 days 13 hours 12 minutes and counting down.

 

[wendylady36]

Lucky girl!

It seems like all of the DIS is going to be in the parks this week!

 

[AURORA73]

First of all I am sorry it has taken me so long to start this trip report. I have been super busy at work and when I get home I don't even want to look at a computer. Christmas has relaxed me enough that I was able to start.

Day 1
We arrived in California around 10:00am. After catching the Disney Express bus to Disneyland we checked into our hotel room. Luckily our room was ready for us and we didn’t have to worry about stowing our luggage for several hours. We unpacked a little, changed our shoes and headed over to the parks. Disneyland here we come!
I love the sound of the Disneyland gate machines. It is just so magical. Once I hear the sound of pixie dust chime I know I am really in Disneyland. Through the left tunnel and on to main street. We walked past the firehouse and saluted Walt’s apartment. It is tradition after all. The Christmas tree looked beautiful and all the Christmas decorations were fabulous. The sounds of Christmas were on Main Street as we walked toward Sleeping Beauty castle. I started to get a little teary eyed. I was so happy to be in Disneyland at Christmas time and celebrating my birthday. It was all so wonderful. As we approached the square who should come riding by but Goofy, Pluto, Pinnochio and Donald Duck. What a greeting!

Next we hear the band coming and who is leading them, why Mickey Mouse of course. It was the best entrance into Disneyland that I have ever experienced. We headed over to Pirates of the Caribbean, the first ride of the day. This was mostly for my sister who loves this ride. She was going to be tolerating Disney Commando for five days the least I could do was ride her favorite ride first. It wasn’t the shortest line I have seen for Pirates but it definitely was not a long line. Haunted Mansion Holiday was next. I love the Haunted Mansion when Jack Skellington takes over. It is one of the reasons I choose to go during the holidays. Winnie the Pooh was next. I like this ride but I sure do miss Country Bear Jamboree.

We headed back to Frontierland for lunch and a show at the Golden Horseshoe Café. My sister loves the Billy Hill and the Hillbillies show. I like it too but I have seen it so many times that the jokes are getting a little old. I thought maybe it would be a little different since it is Christmas. We arrived just as the show was starting so there were no tables available. We decided to stand and watch the show and then get some lunch after and stay for the second show. Yes, I watched it twice in a row. The new Christmas parts were pretty funny. I received a text from my co-worker who was also at Disneyland. We were going to try to meet up and ride some rides together. She was in Fantasyland at the time, meeting the princesses. As we were on the opposite end of the park and stuck in a show I told her we would have to meet later. As we exited the show I noticed that they were running the Sailing Ship Columbia. I have not been on that since I was very little. We always go during the off season and they don't usually run that ride during the off season. Of course I had to ride it and for the second or third time on the trip I got a little teary eyed again because I was so happy.

We headed to one of my favorites Indiana Jones and then on to the Jungle Cruise. Another text, they were heading to Pixie Hollow. I had no idea where Pixie Hollow was and neither did she. Somewhere by the castle she said. Again we had to meet up later I was off on a cruise, hoping that the hippos would not be blowing bubbles and wiggling their ears. What happened to the piranhas?
At this point we decided to head over to Fantasyland and see if we could find my co-worker.

We rode Snow White and the Abrupt Ending. We then looked for Pixie Hollow. I had a slight detour when I saw that the Sleeping Beauty Castle walk-thru was open. I was excited. However, there was a long line so we decided to save it for another day. No sign of Pixie Hollow. Our reservation time for Blue Bayou was approaching so we headed back to New Orleans Square. We rode Pirates again since the line was short. Then we decided to check in early to see if we could get a waterside table. We waited ten minutes. The hostess had a weird look on her face as she called our name and we walked up to her. She said “Is it just the two of you?” I said, “Yes.” She then showed me the reservation and said, “This is your name, correct.” I again said, “Yes” as it was my name on the paper. Then she said, “It says you are celebrating an anniversary. You are obviously sisters.” I laughed and said, “It’s should say celebrating a birthday. I guess they got it wrong.” She frowned and said, “They sure did.” Nothing more, no Happy Birthday, nothing. I was a bit disappointed. We splurged and got the Pirate Punch with clip on souvenier light up characters. My sister got Captain Hook and I got Tinkerbell.

We had already decided to split the Tesoro Island Chicken so we could get dessert. The food was delicious. If you have never done the split plate dinner this is how it works. They charge you an extra $5.00 for split plate but everything is split in half. So we each had half a salad which is the perfect amount for us. Then they split the dinner in half as well so you don’t miss a thing, it’s just smaller portions. (Really a normal size portion since their regular portions are huge.) We should have split the dessert as well but we didn’t. My sister got the Chocolate Dream Cake and I got The Dutchmen. They were both huge. Mine was good but my sister did not like the cake very much. It was a chocolate mousse type of cake. She ended up eating most of mine which was a chocolate chip cookie shaped like a ship with vanilla ice cream and chocolate and caramel sauce.

We had spent most of the day in New Orleans Square and Adventureland so we decided to hop on the train and head over to Small World.

Next---Small World Holiday and the largest crowd I have ever seen.

 

[travelmel]

I so miss BCJ!

I'm glad you got to ride the Columbia... I want to do that next time. I love the nostalgic stuff

I heard somewhere else that the chocolate mousse cake was not as good. This tells me to stick with the Dutchman! You can't go wrong there.

 

[Laneychris]

Great report !