swtbelle64 - December 2005

Cast: - me (41), DD (16)

Well, I'm at the Disneyland Hotel right now, celebrating DD's 16th birthday. Thought I'd give an overview of the trip.

Day 1: Monday - December 05, 2005

Flew out of Nashville airport on Southwest Airlines. This is my first trip on Southwest and was impressed. We printed our A boarding passes the day before, and luckily thought to get in line about 1 1/2 hrs. early - it was nuts! At that time, 8 people were already in line for the A line. Got our seats and had an uneventful flight. I was surprised that instead of peanuts we were given a snack box - Wheat Thins, Ritz Crackers with Cheese, and a whole grain Fig Newton. Arrived at LAX and took the Super Shuttle to Anaheim. Had a GREAT driver - pretended he knew DD from her last trip 15 years ago. Check-in was smooth and the room in Bonita is great. The view - not so much - a parking lot. Thanks, Tina at TMFL for all your help booking this trip! Had ressies at Granville Steakhouse and split the prime rib with DD - yum! More than we could eat, even splitting it. The decorations here are terrific - very festive. I like being in Bonita because we have the Fantasy Waters and are so close to Downtown Disney, which we walked around before making an early night of it.

HIGHPOINT - We're at DL!

LOWPOINT - It's cooooooooollllllld at night!

Day 2: Tuesday - December 06, 2005

Early entry. Picked up Krispy Kremes, doughnuts of the gods, at the Compass Bookstore on our way to the monorail station. Although Early Entry is supposed to be 8:00, they don't start loading us until almost 8, meaning it is about 10 after by the time we make it into the park. Tickets are a real change from WDW - no biometric scans, just a barcode reader. We have RideMax, but decide that as there are absolutely no crowds we'll play it by ear,with the RideMax program as a back-up.

We do Alice in Wonderland, Matterhorn, Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, Dumbo, Pinniochio, Snow White before 9 - and then head to Indiana Jones'. DD LOVES it. My mother was concerned that having 14 trips to WDW under her belt DD would not be impressed, but I was vindicated. DD is very taken with the charm of DL - Personally, I think they are each great in their own ways, and comparing them is really like comparing apples and oranges.

We try to do Pirates, but it is down. Haunted Mansion is, too - we walk into the HM grounds and are taking pictures of all the great Nightmare Before Christmas stuff when a sour CM tells us "The ride is down. I don't know when it will be up. You will have to leave." The CM at Pirates had been funny and charming making essentially the same announcement - hmmm. We then walk on to Splash Mountain and Winnie the Pooh. Try Pirates - yeah! It is open! Personally, I think it should be called Pirates of the Louisiana Swamps. Is it me, or are there fewer fireflies now? Seeing New Orleans Square decked out in its Christmas finery makes my heart hurt - we usually go to New Orleans for Thanksgiving and it is VERY evocative of pre-Katrina French Quarter.

We look longingly at the Club 33 door,but have lunch at Blue Bayou. It is packed - but we split the Monte Cristo and forget the crowds! We ride Buzz (much prefer the guns you can pull out - we both make level 3,which for us is super!), Space Mountain (awesome! soooooo awesome! Surely they will be redoing WDW SM soon - it just doesn't compare!) The Tiki Room (love the new wait area!), Indie two more times (CM makes DD's day by complimenting her on her T-REx shirt), Tarzan Tree House, Pirates again, HM again (I think kids would be more scared by TNBC overlay than the usual one!), tried to ride Storybook Canal Boats but it is closed - line to Casey is too long, so more Buzz. They were filming the last of the Christmas Day Parade, so we avoided the forecastle area. It's a Small World was down, as was SM when we went to use our FAstpasses.

The park closes at 6, so we go to the bakery to get cocoa and hot cider and grab a piece of curb for the fireworks, which are terrific. The "snow" afterwards was pretty - until you got soap in your eye! We then went to the room, where I would have liked to stay, but it's her birthday and she wants to see Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, so off we go to the AMC theatre. We get back at 11 - 1:00 a.m.m c.s.t., but who is counting?

HIGHPOINT - DD's obvious joy and appreciation of DL

LOWPOINT - Cranky CM, lack of sleep, I'm getting the sniffles

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