Won YOMD Ears, and buttons!!

[4bugzinarug]

We are new to these boards, but read them a few times before leaving on our trip last week. Our kids (ages 4 and 5) have never been to Disneyland ... so this was their first trip, and it was amazing

We did win the YOMD mouse ears on Tuesday, just by walking through an entrace to Adventureland right after a show .... and then were handed YOMD Buttons on at dinner the next night. We spent a total of 5 days inside Disneyland, and then upgraded to the Annual Pass right before leaving last night (WOO HOOOO!). It was too good of a deal to pass up, and now our tickets for the next trip are already paid for.

Monday was very chaotic at Disneyland due to a school holiday in LA County. Not exactly what we had hoped for on the kid's first trip ... but the next 4 days made up for it! Playhouse Disney was awesome, so was the new Buzz Lightyear attraction and so many other things - no time to list it all.

Very impressed with Lost and Found. Someone turned in the knit jacket that my daughter had received from her Grandma the night before the trip. It was just a Target brand jacket - not expensive - but soft, cozy, and reminded her of my Mom! She was SO sad when she lost it. But Disneyland found it, and they are mailing it to us!! That is awesome!!

Stayed at Marriott Residence Resort Area for 6 nights, it was great. But do request a room with a pool view if you are on a lower level, as there was quite a bit of parking lot noise at about 6 - 7 a.m. each morning (delivery Monday morning, Garbage collection other mornings, people getting in/out of cars/etc). We were in a 2 bedroom bunkbed suite on the 2nd floor.

Apart from the cranky few, everyone we met at Disneyland was happy to be there and friendly, wanted to visit. The kids had a wonderful time and now they truly "get" the whole Disney experience. They saw fireworks for the first time (one kid loved it, the other one cried!), rode shuttles and trains and all kinds of rides, met Buzz, Belle, Cinderella, Fairy Godmother, Prince Charming, Pluto, Goofy, Mickey, Minnie, Beast, Captain Jack, Cruella De Ville, and a talking Trash Can Robot! Can't wait for our next trip!!

 

[darph nader]

Well,ALRIGHT.CONGRATS. We're are still waiting for our free Parkhopper passes in the mail,but thats another thread.

 

[Another^Dimension]

Congratulations!

...and it sounds like you had a really fun visit.

 

[disney-super-mom]

You can't beat a trip like that! Sounds wonderful!

 

[WebmasterMaryJo]

Thanks for sharing your Year of a Million Dreams experiences. How cool is that!

How old are your children & what was their favorite attractions?

Thanks for your pointers on the Residence Inn Resort Area - good to know.

 

[minnietoo]

Congratulations - the ears and pins I'm sure put a special little touch of extra into your trip. That's nice.

 

[PattiPB]

We spent a total of 5 days inside Disneyland, and then upgraded to the Annual Pass right before leaving last night (WOO HOOOO!). It was too good of a deal to pass up, and now our tickets for the next trip are already paid for.

Welcome to the Pixie Dust side... Must plan more trips.....

Glad you had fun, and welcome to the DIS! Great review!

 

[4bugzinarug]

Thanks for the responses & warm welcome!

Our kids are 5 (DD) and 4 (DS). Son's favorite was California Adventure, hands down! We had preferred seating for Playhouse Disney, which got the kids into the front "row" to dance & sing with the cast members (of which Bear in Blue House was the favorite, hands down!). My son was thoroughly entranced with seeing Bear, Jo Jo, Stanley and Tigger so closeup! The Turtle Talk with Crush was also a highlight, as well as the Monster's Inc ride (which was substantially less scary for a 4 year old than ANY of the "dark" storybook type rides in Fantasyland).

We were there for the first day & showing of the High School Musical parade, which DD - almost 6 - just could not get enough of. Other favorites:

Casey Jr. Circus Train (rode that one 3 times!)
Buzz Lightyear
Peter Pan ride (my son's 1st and favorite)
It's A Small World (we did this F I V E times for the kids, LOL!)
Everything inside of the Bug section of the DCA - especially the caterpillar "smell-o-ride" and the bumper cars. Was hoping that the chinese food take out box that we sat in next on the "balloon" ride would smell like fried rice and lemon chicken - but no such luck

Son drenched himself on Friday inside of the water feature area of the Bug section (for anyone else who was there around 5 - 6 p.m. on Friday - my son was the blonde in the red tshirt who was completely soaked head to toe - and kept making the water shoot up his shorts and shirt - into his mouth!!). Still trying to figure out why they don't have any spare clothing for sale in/around that area - all I could found was an "I Survived Grizzly Rapids" towel for sale just outside of the Bug section. They should sell t-shirts for kids by the water features in DCA ...

My son was afraid to go into the Whale on the storybook ride. He just plain did not want to do it, and I am not interested in making him do something that scares him (isn't Disneyland supposed to be FUN!). Maybe next visit he will get to enjoy it. He did do the Pirates ride and almost everything in Fantasyland ... that was enough! My daughter loved all the miniature houses/castles ... and especially the grey cat that was perched at the base of Cinderella's castle watching all of us (looked like King Kong up against all those miniatures, LOL!). DD copied everything the dolls were doing all through It's A Small World, and memorized the song by the end of the ride (not hard to do . DD did the spinning teacups twice, and would have done it more if we would go with her.

One cute thing we saw was Alice & Mad Hatter playing RED LIGHT GREEN LIGHT with other little kids in the park. They were running all about through the castle & Main Street - it was adorable.

We did not truly explore DCA until the last day - and it will absolutely be the first stop we make on our next trip. Very nicely done and less crowded. Oh .... and DD was positively blown away by Tinkerbell flying around during the fireworks at DL. It was truly fantastic! We can't wait to go back. Five days at a time was a little much for the first trip, but we saw so much it was totally worth it.

 

[minnietoo]

Your trip sounds fantastic - your kids will remember this forever!

 

[DCA_MillionaireFreak]

Awww, congrats... If you want I have a userbar that says "Prize Winner" like the YOAMD ones in my sig...

And pics of the ears please!