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Hello, all! I've been a lurker here on this list for a while. I recently visited Disneyland and have a trip to WDW
scheduled for January. I appreciate everything I learned and thought I would post my DL trip reports since there
has been some requests for DL info lately.
Cast: me and my best friend from 6th grade, Michelle
When: Sunday, 10/12 and Monday, 10/13
Day 1
Michelle lives and works in LA so she was able to get unbelievable cheap tickets for both of us ($50 for two
days) and a great rate at the Grand Californian for Sunday night. We woke up early enough on Sunday morning
to drive to the parks, check into the hotel and store our bags and still be at the gates of Disneyland 30
minutes before it opened. This proved to be a very wise
choice. The crowds were very large due to the holiday
but we were able to get on a lot of rides before they
showed up.
We were the first ones down Main Street when the park opened. What a rush to be the only ones! We hurried
over to Indiana Jones, but the ride was down and the weren't yet giving out fast passes, so we headed over
to Pirates of the Carribbean. We were the first ones through! After we rode Pirates, Indiana Jones was still
down, so we went over to Fantasyland and rode the Matterhorn (there are no fast passes for this ride and lines get
long), Alice in Wonderland, the teacups (because there was absolutely no wait - usually I skip them), Peter
Pan and then headed back over to Indiana Jones. The ride was back up but the line was long so we got a Fast
Pass and went on the Haunted Mansion. The decorations were cool, but I was a little lost because I've never
seen The Nightmare Before Christmas. Also, I felt like the ride was barely recognizable as the Haunted Mansion.
I liked it, but it was weird. Then we rode the Pooh ride twice (once again - no line). After the Pooh ride,
we got our pictures with Pooh and Eeyore and then it was time for our Fast Pass so we finally did Indiana
Jones. We needed a mid-morning snack so we rode the train around to Tomorrowland. We picked up a Fast Pass
for Star Tours (the crowds were starting to catch up to us). Then we went to a bakery on Main Street and
got this huge cinnamon roll to split and some coffee. After we rested for about 45 mins., it was time for
our Start Tours FP. Then we went over to It's a Small World and rode that, after which we walked around in
Toon Town and met Mickey Mouse. Now it was time for lunch and a nap. We got in line for the Monorail. I've
never had the chance to ride on the DL Monorail, but I love the WDW monorail so I really wanted to do it.
This was a big mistake. Although the line didn't look ong, they only had ONE train running so it took forever.
And we were standing in the very hot sun. Once we got to the front of the line (took about 20 minutes - in
the sun), we realized they had a line for resort guests that was practically empty. Then we finally made it
on the Monorail. We were planning to do one and a half loops since they only have two stops in DL - one in
the park and one in Downtown Disney where you get off if you are going to the hotels. Once we were on and
seated, they said if you ride the Monorail all the way around, you have to get off at the DL station - you
can't stay on and ride back to Downtown Disney. They was no way in heck we were going to wait for that train
again, so we just go off at the first stop. It took us about 45 minutes to get back to our hotel. It would
have taken us less than 10 if we had just walked it. On top of that, the actual Monorail experience was bad.
It was hot, but they didn't have A/C on - just had the windows down which was not cool enough. Not to mention
the thing was packed because they only had one train. It was disappointing, but I survived. :) We had lunch
at the hotel at Whitewater Snacks. The portions were huge. Although we were very hungry, we could have easily
split a hamburger. Then we hung out in the lobby while we waited for them to get our room ready. Once it was
ready, we headed up for a nap. I'm a much bigger Disney fan than my friend so I had trouble napping. I watched
Disney shows on TV for about 15 minutes and then finally fell asleep myself for about 30. Then I woke Michelle
up at the agreed upon time, but she wanted to sleep more. Since I wanted to do some shopping, I left her
there so she could sleep more and went to Downtown Disney. I shopped for a while in World of Disney trying to decide
on a souvenir, but talked myself out of everything. I bought husband a Lego racer at the Lego store and
then figured out I was very close to the Disneyland Hotel and the Paradise Pier Hotel. I wanted to see those
hotels and knew Michelle didn't, so I went on over. Both were very cool, but the Grand Californian was definitely
the best place to stay. After that, I went back to the hotel to get Michelle. We headed back to Disneyland
(it was after 5:00 now) and after purchasing some Disney Dollars (just for fun), went to the Great Moments with
Mr. Lincoln show. Before the show started, I remembered that I wanted to see Tom Sawyer's island (since I've
never seen it) so we decided we'd come back to the Lincoln show later. We picked up a Mickey ice cream and then
headed into Frontierland. Unfortunately, when we got to TS's Island, it was already closed, so we picked
up another FP for Pirates and did the Jungle Cruise. Then we went to the Tiki Room show (the original is
by far my favorite). It was time for our Pirates FP, so we did that again, getting a FP for Indiana Jones
on the way. After Pirates, it was almost time for the 8pm parade. We hadn't eaten dinner and were pushing
it to get to the parade, but decided to stop for some gumbo in a bread bowl. We took it with us, negotiating
crowds that were already lining up for the 9pm Fantasmic. We ended up finding a *great* spot just a few minutes
before the parade started, which was amazing. It was just on one side of a popcorn cart and everyone in front
of us was sitting down. After the parade, we checked the lines for Pinocchio and Snow White, but both were
longer than we wanted them to be. We went over and watched "Honey, I Shrunk the Audience" and then played
around in Innoventions for a while. Then we went on the Snow White ride because the line was really short.
We were trying to decide how late we wanted to stay. I wanted to see Fantasmic (there was a second showing
at 10:30), but didn't want to sit and wait on it forever. We walked over there and there were still places to
stand, but it was almost 45 minutes before the show. Michelle didn't really care so I decided we should use
our Indiana Jones FP and then come back and see if we could find a seat. If so, we'd stay. If not, we'd go.
Well, it just so happened that we were able to, once again, find a really great spot at the last minute.
The show was good and afterwards, we headed back toward Main Street. It was 11pm at this point and we were both
exhausted and although I would have stayed, I didn't want to wear Michelle out. However, when we saw the
large amount of people pouring out of the park, Michelle decided we needed to stick it out and ride more rides
when there were no lines! We got some hot chocolate (it was a little cold out) that came in a souvenir travel
mug. Michelle wanted to do Mr. Toad, so we went that way, but she saw that there was no line for Dumbo and
decided she wanted to do that instead. I have never been on Dumbo even though it is the classic Disney ride
because the lines are always so long. We hopped on and it was cool, but I think is more enjoyable for kids.
Then we rode the Casey Jr. Circus train which I will skip in the future. And then we headed over to It's
a Small World for one last ride. It was after 12am at this point and now we really were exhausted so we went
back to the hotel. They had turned down our beds and left me a Thumper chocolate and her a Bambi chocolate.
:)
Day 2
Today we went to Disney's California Adventure. Fortunately, the park didn't open until 10am the next day, so we
could sleep in. We got up around 8 and got dressed and packed up. Around 9:15, we went down to check out and store our bags and pick up some breakfast at Whitewater
Snacks before getting in line for the 10:00 opening. By the time we got our breakfast and headed to the gate, it was 9:40 and we figured out that they start letting
people in at 9:30! Yikes! We got into the park and were going to go over to Soarin' Over California and sit there and eat our breakfast, but noticed that the line
was already way back into the park. So we jumped in line, eating as we went. The line, although it was long,
moved really quickly. The ride was amazing and completely blew me away. It was by far one of the best Disney experiences
I've ever had. After it was over, we picked up a FP so we could ride again later. Next we went to the Paradise
Pier section of the park. We rode the big roller coaster, California Screamin'. It was great as far as roller
coasters go. Then we rode everything else in the Paradise Pier section (the Sun Wheel, the Orange Stinger, the
Maliboomer, and the Flying Zephyrs). I found it to be pretty disappointing. I grew up in Houston going to
Six Flags Astroworld and although the themeing of the Disney rides is better, it is still basically the same
stuff. The lines were short and that was the only reason we stuck around. Otherwise, we would have skipped the
whole section. Next we went to the "Who Wants to be a Millionaire" show and then the Muppet 3D show.
Donald was outside the Muppet show so I got my picture with him. We picked up a fast pass for Grizzly River
Run and then went to Flik's Fun Fair. This section is basically for kids but is very well done and if you
like the movie, you will enjoy walking around in it. The restrooms are a giant tissue box, the trapeze is
made with Q-tips, etc. We saw "It's Tough to be a Bug" here and then we rode "Tuck and Roll's
Drive 'Em Buggies" (bumper cars) which were not as fun as they looked. We wanted to go on Heimlich's
Chew Chew Train, but the line was a little long and it was almost time of our priority seating at Ariel's
Grotto. We were very hungry, so we decided to go and see if they could seat us a little early. They couldn't,
so after checking in, we wandered into a shop for some A/C. I had been looking for a hat all morning. The sun
was frying me. I found a cute Tinkerbell fisherman's hat that kept me cool. The lunch was good, but a bit
of a disappointment after Chef Mickey's which is my only exposure to character meals. We did meet Ariel,
Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale and there was plenty of good character interaction. After lunch, we decided
to go ahead and go on Grizzly River Run. Time had come and gone for our FP's, but neither one of us wanted
to get wet. We ended up buying rain ponchos to keep us dry. It is a good thing because we would have been
*soaked*. Next we went to the Aladdin show which was awesome. I don't know what we were expecting, but it
completely blew us away. We decided that it was good enough to be a Broadway show! Then we spent some time
in the Art of Animation. I wish we had more time there because it was really cool, but it was crowded and I
could tell that Michelle was reaching her limit. We used our FP for Soarin' Over California and then went
and toured the Tortilla Factory and the Boudin Bakery (OK, but nothing great). We had one last FP for California
Screamin', so we were going to do that and then head home. When we got over there, the ride was down, so
we rode King Triton's Carousel and then called it a day.
High Points: Soarin' Over California
Low Points: Paradise Pier
All in all, it was a great trip. Thanks for reading!
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