Disneyland in December: Day 5 (posted 2/5) About This Page:

[Politzania]

As you may have seen in the planning forum - DH and I are flying out to California this weekend to spend time with family and to visit Disneyland during its 50th Anniversary.
We've been twice before, for 1 day in 1999 and in 2003 for four days. This time we'll have 5 days in the DLR - whee!

Our basic plan:

Saturday Dec 10 -
* Pack & nap... Puppy already "on vacation" with my parents.
* Leave for Indy 3ish - pick up tix from ATA desk
* Hopefully get good seats on Southwest - flight 7:15p-9:05p (12:05 our time).
* Pick up car & drive to relatives' house

Sunday Dec 11 & Mon Dec 12
* visit with family. No idea what, if anything, they have planned. Possibly going out on DH's uncle's boat.

Tuesday Dec 12:
* Get up fairly early & fight traffic (???) from LaCanada to Anaheim. Hopefully arrive at hotel & get checked in/luggage dropoff by mid-morning.
* Look around Disneyland.
* Block Party Bash - 5:15 DCA
* Possibly go visit outlet stores
* Check out DL at night - fireworks 7:45

Wednesday Dec 14:
* Breakfast at River Belle Terrace?
* Aladdin at DCA - either 12:35 or 2:05 show
* Holiday Time at Disneyland tour: 4:00 (City Hall Desk by 3:45) - includes reserved seating for 6:30 Christmas Parade

Thursday Dec 15
* Early Entry: Fantasyland & Toontown
* Blue Bayou 12:00 (arrive 11:30 & ask for riverside seating)
* Parade of Dreams 4:00
* DL Fireworks 7:45 (maybe)

Friday 16 Dec:
* May take it a bit easy today - visit outlet stores if we didn't on Tuesday.
* DCA - Electric Light Parade 8:45
* DL - Fantasmic! 10:30 showing, if not too crowded
* DL open til midnight

Saturday, Dec 17
* Early Entry: Fantasyland & Toontown (maybe!)
* Probably crowded at park - take it easy.
* Catch showing of Fantasmic! if we missed it/too crowded Fri night.

Sunday Dec 18
* SLEEP IN (Park pass expired)
* Goofy's Kitchen at 10:40
* Leave for airport around 12:30 or 1
* Drop car off & get checked in
* Flight: 4:30p - 11:35p
* Drive home [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

Any special hints or tips are appreciated!

[Tink and co.]

Have a fantastic time! The 10:30 showing of Fantasmic! is usually easy to just walk up and grab a seat or stand spot. I'll never go to the early one again! And you'll want to see the fireworks as many times as you can...they're that awesome. We watched two times on our recent trip from the hub right in front of the Plaza Inn, and it was a spectacular spot. Also, tried town square (down by the train station) and near Small World, and those spots were okay, but watch at least once from the hub, it's worth the wait! We had our best trip ever just last week, I want to go back right now! So, come home and tell us all about yours!

[Colexis Mom]

Have a great time [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img] Can't wait to hear all about it [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

[DawnDenise]

Looks like you have some great plans!! Can't wait to hear all about it as we are going in February! Have fun!!! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img]

[snoozy]

Have a wonderful time. Give us a nice long TR when you get back with lots of details.

[Moosin88]

Cant wait to hear all about it we are leaving on the 29th of this month

[Politzania]

Weather: high 63 pt cloudy – morning & evening – mid/low 50’s.

Woke up just before the 7:30 wakeup call & were heading downstairs by 8:30. We thought we’d spend a bit of time at Disneyland before DCA opened, spend the morning there then rest, going back to DL in the late afternoon, checking out Disney’s Electric Parade at DCA and maybe catching Fantasmic! that evening. Decided to enter the park via Main Street to see the 50 Years of Disneyland show, since we’d only seen the exhibits earlier. On our way in, we saw Mary Poppins, Bert & one of the penguins playing hide & seek with some kids. The characters are allowed/encouraged to be more playful here than at WDW, I think. We then picked up our Court of Angels photo from yesterday and checked the Happiest Faces on Earth kiosk to see where our pictures were located. We’d forgotten to print out the email they sent at the beginning of the celebration.

Walked right into DCA about 9:50, stopped for a quick photo and then on to Soarin’ Over California, where we were pre-boarding by 10:05. We were seated in the 3rd row (bottommost during the presentation), so got back in line (still within the building at this point)& hoped for better seats. Got the first row this time & went way on in the air – whee! Got some FP’s – then took a leisurely walk down the Redwood Trail. Stopped by the Mission factory & got wheat tortillas as our sample this time. Since we’re Disney Visa cardholders, we went to Ariel’s Grotto and got our free photo with Mickey in his captain’s gear and Goofy in his old-fashioned swim suit. We ended up with several professional pictures this trip – usually we only get one or two… tho that’s increased since WDW got the PhotoPass.

About 11:20 we headed over to Paradise Pier & walked by most of the rides – they lines weren’t long, but they just don’t appeal to us much. Last trip Muholland Madness freaked me out (I could have sworn we were going to tip over right off the track!) and the screening around the gondolas at the Sun Wheel, while important for safety, really detracts from the view. Scott took some neat pictures of the area, tho.

Made a stop at P.T. Flea’s Circus about 11:45 to do some shopping, then had lunch at the Taste Pilot’s Grill about noon. I had a good salad and Scott had, yes, another burger. Next stop was the Engineers Toy store to check out new Potatohead pieces. We’ve got a mini-tote full of parts from WDW and 2 different PotatoPeople (not counting Darth Tater and a Spud Trooper), so we’re always on the lookout for new items. The Tinkerbell wig & wings and Ariel wig & tail were new to us, as were the Donald hat & bill. We found enough pieces to fill a box (after several attempts to maximize the volume). Didn’t see any gold Mickey ears or other 50th-specific items, tho. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img] The store did have some freebie/discontinued parts - you could pick 4 if you’d bought a box of parts [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]

One of our Happiest Faces on Earth photos was in the Mr. Incredible photomosaic in the main plaza of DCA; unfortunately, it’s mounted about 6 feet up on a pole and is itself at least 4-5 feet high. We found it tho, thanks to Scott’s zoom lens on the camera! One of our photos (Scott in the ToonTown dog pound) was used about 6-7 times… it had a dark background & must have been easier to use than some others. I only ended up in one of the photomosiacs (tho we didn’t have/make time to check the Fantasmic! photo before we left). [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/frown.gif[/img]

We used our FP’s for Soarin about 1:00, picked up our photo and headed back to the hotel. Got back about 2:00, after getting our free duffle bag (booked our package thru Walt Disney Travel Co. & put it on the Disney Visa) – it definitely came in handy, considering all the souvenirs we ended up buying! The big shopping trip was next on the schedule - you get 10% off at the World of Disney if you show your Disney Visa (I don’t think you have to use it, just show it). We decided to ship these purchases home, as we wouldn’t have had the room! The few things we didn’t want to ship (a sweatshirt & shortbread cookies) we took back to the hotel & then were on our way back to Disneyland about 3:45.

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img]

[lauren-roxy]

Great update!!! Glad to hear how handy that Disney Visa is!! Can't wait to read more!!!!!

[chezp]

Wow - I've just read through your report from start to finish and I've learnt so much that'll come in useful for us when we go to Disneyland in April. Your attention to detail is great and the comparisons between WDW and DL are really helpful.

More please! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img]

[snoozy]

Sounds like a great time. For future reference you can request a certain seat on a ride. What they will do is put you aside until the next seat or row is available and then they put in your request. We do this all the time especially with Soarin' and Big Thunder Mountain. First row for Soarin', you don't have to look at any dangling feet. Last car for BTMRR it feels faster.

[Politzania]

Life's been interfering with my Internet time lately.... [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/laugh.gif[/img]

We took the monorail & saw part of the Parade of Dreams as we glided over the park. We hustled over to the Matterhorn before the post-parade line got too long. We shook, rattled & rolled our way down the mountain (what a contrast with SM!) and walked out in front of it’s a small world just as the clock struck 4. Snack break! I went to a nearby churro cart & Scott looked for a Mickey bar… I think he was almost done with his before I even got mine! Not only was the line long, but everyone in front of me was buying 3 or 4 of them. Where’s the single buyer’s line for the churro carts? [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/jester.gif[/img]

Searched for our photos (well, Scott’s photo!) in the mosaics in the Fantasyland plaza – he was in Beauty & The Beast twice (2 different photos, but still just Scott) and in Snow White – she’s really kissing him instead of Dopey! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/wink.gif[/img] Got FP’s for Roger Rabbit’s Cartoon Spin about 4:20 and looked around Toontown for a bit. We tried to go see Minnie, but she had to leave early to get ready for the parade in an hour. It seems the ladies take more time to get “neat and pretty”, since Mickey was still meeting guests in the movie barn. After a visiting Mr. Mouse, we saw Minnie again, out by the fountain. She must’ve gotten ready pretty quickly after all! We got a few pix with her, and also visited with Goofy, Pluto and Chip & Dale, all in their holiday attire. Went for a ride with Benny the Cab, and then caught the train over to New Orleans Square. The Christmas Parade was had just started at 5:15 - and it crosses the train’s path - so we had to wait for a gap before the train could pass.

We’d started to notice the increasing crowds by this time, but thought maybe it was just lots of families hanging out in ToonTown before it closes. Not so – NOS was very busy! We were both getting a little jittery. I thought maybe getting something to eat would help, so I stood in a VERY long line at the Royal Street Veranda to get a bread bowl of gumbo – it was awfully good, tho. We found an empty table under the voodoo lady’s apartment and tried to listen in over the crowd noise… kind of difficult. Despite the crowds, while I was in line, Scott got some lovely pictures of an empty Court of Angels!

We got in line at Haunted Mansion Holiday about 6:15– the line started at the gate – split in 2 and wound around & around past the pet cemetery & over in the patio area to the left of the Mansion – it was closer to a 30 min line than the 20 min posted time – but there’s something about visiting the Mansion at night that makes it worth the wait! Scott still hadn’t gotten anything to eat – we took a look at Casey’s the Refreshment Corner on our way over to DCA but it was packed, so ended up back at Award Weiner’s. Scott stood in line while I grabbed a table. I know DLR is really hurting for employees; food service is where you can really tell how shorthanded the staffing is. I shudder to think of how much worse it got over the high holiday season!

We browsed thru Off the Page before checking out the parade route. About 8:00 we settled in at about the same spot as where we’d see Block Party Bash – just to the side of the entrance to the Winery. I saved our spot while Scott went in search of hot cocoa (huge lines, so he came back emptyhanded). We were glad to have our Santa hats & jackets on by this time! After seeing what the early evening crowds were like in DL, we decided to pass on Fantasmic! for tonight, since we wanted to make Early Entry & Toontown Madness. In retrospect, we should have stuck it out for the second viewing – oh well.

The Disney Electrical Parade got to our spot about 9:30 – it was as lovely as I remembered. So difficult to take good photos of, tho! Definitely a retro feel to the parade – not as sparkly as Spectromagic, but it’s got a little more charm – and the best theme music! [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/waytogo.gif[/img] After it passed, Scott went over to the plaza in front of the Pacific Wharf, where the DCA tree was located to get some pix of it at night. You can see some of the DL fireworks show from that area, so we watched it for a bit. Stopped by a slightly-less-busy cart for hot cocoa on our way out for the walk back to the room, returning about 10:05. Wound down a bit before getting to sleep.

Attraction count: (13 – includes train, monorail & parade)
Mileage: 2.8 mi/6182 steps

[DebiDebiDebi]

Enjoyed the newest installment. We had several photos in the mosaics as well...they are hard to find sometimes, eh?

[Colexis Mom]

Another great update [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/zwavin.gif[/img]

[chezp]

Another great update - and your description of the Main Street Electrical Parade and the comparison with SpectroMagic was very interesting to read. [img]/ubb/images/graemlins/smile.gif[/img]