"Why is EVERYTHING better here?" First trip to DL, May '14

[Daisybelle]

We have a standard room booked. I'm not super worried about the view since I'm just so happy to be staying on property again. we stayed there once before in a standard and were on the 8th floor with a pool view. We were happy with it. The only downside was the pool activities at the same time we would take rest breaks. They use microphones for those games.

 

[Cheshirecatty]

Hi Gretchen---Following along!

Love your photos, and how fun to travel with a good friend!

We've never stayed Concierge(we figured it wouldn't be worth it with just two of us), but maybe we'll have to give it a try!

 

[bellebookworm9]

We have a standard room booked. I'm not super worried about the view since I'm just so happy to be staying on property again. we stayed there once before in a standard and were on the 8th floor with a pool view. We were happy with it. The only downside was the pool activities at the same time we would take rest breaks. They use microphones for those games.

Oh, I definitely understand about the pool noise. In December 2012 we stayed at Wilderness Lodge at WDW with a beautiful courtyard view...and then the afternoon pool activities started. Earplugs barely blocked out the amplified voices and songs!

Hi Gretchen---Following along!

Love your photos, and how fun to travel with a good friend!

We've never stayed Concierge(we figured it wouldn't be worth it with just two of us), but maybe we'll have to give it a try!

Hello PB is good to travel with because he lets me make my plans and just follows along, but we're good at compromising if something isn't quite working out. I've traveled with other friends who don't want to go with my plans at all, who would rather sleep most of the vacation. By gosh, if I'm going to Disney, I'm going to the parks! Having done concierge, it was a nice treat but it probably isn't something I'd use again.

 

[bellebookworm9]

As we walked back over to the hotel, I took this picture.

When we arrived at the room, this delicious treat was waiting on my bed.

And an evening shot of Paradise Pier as the lights were coming on.

I also took a photo of the view from the glass elevator.

We walked back over to the Grand Californian, and I think we went through the hotel guest entrance in California Adventure. Our main goal was to check out the Mad T Party, but first we stopped to get our first Photopass pictures taken at the Storyteller's Statue.

OK, heading over to Hollywood Pictures Backlot.

Alice and the Mad Hatter. They sang a rock version of the Unbirthday Song, along with some other more contemporary music, like Lady Gaga.

More photos of the area:

Looking towards Tower and the Hyperion theater.

There was this cool guy, "riding" a flamingo.

And leaving the area on the Hyperion Theater side, we took pictures of them claiming to be "Hollywood Studios".

We didn't spend a ton of time there but it was pretty fun. Since we still had quite a lot of time to kill before Magical! started over at DL, we went back to check out the neon in Cars Land. More Photopass pics:

And a few pictures of the area, which was beautiful at night:

 

[rachel09985]

So excited to read this! We are headed to disneyland in 1 month for the first time and I am so excited!

 

[Rubygoose]

Wow! You sure managed to fit a lot in on your first day!

 

[petals]

joining in.

 

[bellebookworm9]

So excited to read this! We are headed to disneyland in 1 month for the first time and I am so excited!

Welcome! I'm sure you'll have a great time! Only one month to go, it'll fly by for sure.

Wow! You sure managed to fit a lot in on your first day!

Yes we did, it was just go go go!

joining in.

Welcome!

 

[bellebookworm9]

I'm going to post twice tonight to finish up this really long first day!

Still in Cars Land, we got a few PP pictures by Flo's.

Leaving Cars Land:

I took some "bad pun" photos to send to Matt:

Then we exited the park via Buena Vista Street and made the super quick walk across the Esplanade back to DL. Once inside, we saw another PP photographer.

This was the result of her telling us to kiss, and me being like, "No way".

She was the second person, but certainly not the last, to assume we were a couple. The first was the woman I was sitting next to on the plane that morning who asked if I was meeting my boyfriend, when I said "he's already waiting for me at Disneyland".

We meandered up Main Street, as I had heard that the spot between the Refreshment Corner and the Photo store was a good place to watch the fireworks from. As PB said, "We don't have Casey's Corner to guide us." Well, the Refreshment Corner basically is Casey's, so that was a great guideline anyway. PB wandered in the nearby area for a bit. We sat on the ground and played trivia on our phones. I was very impressed with the DL crowd control, just the way they set up the areas and told people what was going on seemed much better than at Magic Kingdom.

Around 9 I took a photo of the castle.

Then it was time for Magical! I must admit, I'm in love with this soundtrack as well, and I'd been singing along to it in the car for several months prior.

There goes Tink!

I think this is during the Pinocchio part:

Maybe Mary Poppins?

It's Dumbo!

Bibbidi Bobbidi Boo:

Possibly the "pink, pink, pink, blue, blue, blue" fairies from Sleeping Beauty:

BAM Mickey firework!

Make a wish on a shooting star, wish for magic and see where you are!

Blinding finale:

Wow! We loved it! I really like Wishes at Magic Kingdom, but PB hates it for some reason. He goes, "Why can't they bring this to us?" We were in awe of Dumbo and the zig-zagging Tink. I know PB really wanted to see Remember...Dreams Come True (and so did I, for that matter) because we adore Julie Andrews, but we were about a week too late.

Anyway, before the show started, the CMs were telling people that when it was over, those leaving the park should head down our left side of Main Street, and those staying should go up the right side and around the hub to get to their destination. It was super simple and worked like a charm!

Making our way into Frontierland, we hit a log jam. But it was actually them just holding the crowd heading to the second Fantasmic show, as we were, while the first show people exited. Again, once they let us start going, everything went very smoothly. It was easy to find seats in the sitting section towards the back. Once we had staked our claim, I decided it was time to try the famous New Orleans Mint Julep, so I left PB and went on the hunt. It did take me a few minutes to find, after I almost ended up back in Critter Country. When I got to the mint julep bar, the line was kind of long. But I did eventually make it back to our spot with this:

At first, it was weird. I said it tasted like mouthwash, to be honest. But after I adapted to it and mixed it up a bit, the taste wasn't too bad. A bit refreshing, actually. Finally it was almost 10:30 and the show was about to start!

 

[bellebookworm9]

Right before the show started, there was a large family of adults standing to the right of us. A CM repeatedly told them (from a distance) that they had to sit, complete with hand gestures. At first I thought the family didn't speak English but then I heard them muttering that they were fine because they were in the last row of the seating area. Maybe so but I still thought it was rude.

There were also two girls around our age sitting right by us, keep them in the back of your mind because they'll be important later in this report.

The show began and although the pictures I took aren't fantastic, we did have a really good view! Mickey does the same dance here as he does at WDW, which PB and I know by heart and do along with him, every single time.

Their Jungle scene has Kaa and King Louie from the Jungle Book, rather than the WDW one, which has Rafiki and a host of other Lion King animals. We also have Jafar as a snake later, instead of Kaa. PB liked this jungle scene better, while I preferred ours.

They also had this cool Pinocchio scene that we don't have.

We have Pocahontas instead of Peter Pan, and while we were said we didn't get to do our Pocahontas pose, we thought this part was really cool!

Then came the Princesses, which was almost the same as ours. The only difference we noted was that our Belle dress is a lot poofier, as it should be, since it's $80,000.

Their villains scene was different than ours, featuring much more Ursula, which PB was very happy about, since she's his favorite villain...possibly character at all. And then came their dragon, which just puts ours to shame.

And while I won't say that their steamboat had more characters, there were different ones.

For example, they have Jane Porter and we don't...though we did used to have Megara and I was sad when she disappeared.

They also have Cinderella, and the Toy Story gang.

I loved their lasers too, they seemed brighter and more abundant than ours.

Some imagination, huh?

Yay! We managed to exit the area pretty quickly, nothing like the cattle herd that is the Studios ampitheater at WDW. On our way out we discussed which version of the show we liked better and the answer was...it was a tie! While they had things ours didn't, we have things they don't as well. We both really like our Pocahontas scene, even as cool as the Peter Pan thing was. And ours features way more villains. I think if we had to pick a tipping point, it would be the dragon, but even that had us wavering. Theirs is more "life like", but ours is sparkly and looks massive because of it's puppet-like qualities.

Back at the hotel, it was time for a quick shower and then bed. I passed out and slept like a log, which is what always happens to me on the first night of vacation. I was exhausted and that bed was just so darn comfortable! Plus, we had to be up early the next day for Early Entry at DCA. Radiator Springs Racers, here we come!

 

[Daisybelle]

It was interesting to read the differences between the F! shows. I didn't realize they were different. Oh! And what about the $80,000'dress???

 

[williamson_ja]

I am loving your report. Subbing.

 

[bellebookworm9]

It was interesting to read the differences between the F! shows. I didn't realize they were different. Oh! And what about the $80,000'dress???

Yup, some subtle differences, some major ones, but still a great show either way. PB has taken at least one backstage tour of the F! at WDW (during his college programs, and that opportunity was only open to theater majors, otherwise I would have done it in a heartbeat!) and among other things, he learned that Belle's dress in Fantasmic is worth $80,000.

I am loving your report. Subbing.

Welcome! Thanks for subscribing!

 

[Rubygoose]

There were also two girls around our age sitting right by us, keep them in the back of your mind because they'll be important later in this report.

Hmmm... I wonder why we need to remember these girls.
Great pictures from Fantasmic. We saw it in 2012 but we sat at a table at Riverbelle Terrace and our view was really obstructed. I was hoping to see it on our last trip in 2013 but the kids stayed up late for WOC earlier in the trip and couldn't handle another late night, especially since they were getting up at 6am each morning for EE! This summer, DH and I are going to get the dessert package and a babysitter for the kids since it's our 10 year anniversary.

Can't wait to read the rest of your TR!

 

[nukephd]

Great TR! I'll definitely be following along.

 

[bellebookworm9]

Hmmm... I wonder why we need to remember these girls.
Great pictures from Fantasmic. We saw it in 2012 but we sat at a table at Riverbelle Terrace and our view was really obstructed. I was hoping to see it on our last trip in 2013 but the kids stayed up late for WOC earlier in the trip and couldn't handle another late night, especially since they were getting up at 6am each morning for EE! This summer, DH and I are going to get the dessert package and a babysitter for the kids since it's our 10 year anniversary.

Can't wait to read the rest of your TR!

OK, maybe "important" was too strong of a word, but the girls will pop up again! The late night was definitely draining, having been up since 4am...that's 22 hours by the time all was said and done! Enjoy your dessert package, I thought about doing that but then decided it was a bit too expensive for us this time around.

Great TR! I'll definitely be following along.

Welcome! Thanks for reading.

 

[luulu1999]

LOVING your pics and report!!! I don't know how the world you got such good firework pics!!!

 

[bellebookworm9]

LOVING your pics and report!!! I don't know how the world you got such good firework pics!!!

Thanks! Honestly, practice. My early attempts at fireworks pics (four years ago) were atrocious. My iPhone is what I use for most of my nighttime pics because it seems to focus better than my regular camera, which is a Nikon Coolpix point and shoot. My Fantasmic pics never seem to turn out, regardless of which camera I use or how close I sit.

 

[bellebookworm9]

Monday morning I was up at 6:15am. When we were both ready we stopped in the lounge for breakfast: bagels, fruit, and pastries. Cutting through the Grand Californian, we went through Downtown Disney to arrive at the main entrance of DCA.

I was just blown away by how close together the parks were; that’s Disneyland to the left and DCA on the right. By arriving so early, we were the second people in line at our turnstile.

Today I had Mater on my ticket, which was appropriate, since we were going to Cars Land.

CMs opened the gates at about 7:50 and we proceeded to Buena Vista Street. By hustling along, we were able to be right at the rope and all the way to the right.

Ready to go!

RSR cast were in place by 7:58 to lead us back to the ride.

On the move!

We kept moving along and a few people did manage to get in front of us…but really, just a few.

I took a lot of pictures of the queue.

We were directed into row 1 once we got to the loading area. Thought this was going to be our car, but it wasn’t.

Ours was red instead.

Since we had been directed to row 1, even though we weren’t the first people in the queue, we were in the front row of the first car to be dispatched with guests for the day. Success!

In no time at all, we were cruising around Radiator Springs.

 

[bellebookworm9]

Once you’re inside, you get to experience the cool animatronics. SPOILERS AHEAD!
First you get stopped by the sheriff for going a little too fast cause it’s not time to race yet!

Then Mater takes you tractor tipping.

Up next, you roll into the main part of town, where Sarge and Filmore greet you.

Lightning and Sally tell you about getting spruced up before the big race, and you go either into Ramone’s for a new paint job or Luigi’s for new tires. We went into Luigi’s.

Guido changes your tires, which is pretty cool.

Looking at our new whitewall tires.

Then you encounter Doc Hudson, who tells you he’s your new crew chief and that it takes more than a fancy set of tires to win a race.

Luigi and Guido are there at the starting line to cheer you on.

The car we were racing against:

Here we go!

I think our car won this race, but I don’t remember for sure. At the end, Mater and McQueen are there to congratulate you.

And our ride photo: I have no idea what happened to my face, but PB made fun of me for the rest of the trip!

Such a cool ride! We knew we’d want to do it again at some point, but for the time being we moved onto Luigi’s Flying Tires.

Loved the details here!