Disneyland TR updated, long
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snoozy · 11-03-2004, 11:49 PM

So sorry it has taken forever, I had some login problems for a couple of days. Well on with the TR
Day 1
We arrived at the Disneyland Hotel around 1:30pm Fri 10-22. LA traffic was ture to form, awful

On arrival at the hotel I went to check us in and found out that we would not be getting the room view I had requested

I was to tired from our 11 1/2 hour drive to complain at the moment so I took what they gave us. Then we had to wait another 1 1/2 for our room to get ready. So we walked around the grounds of the hotel, which are very nice, I can see why people would want to get married there. When we finally did get our room I was even more disappointed

Our original request was for the Sierra Tower with a upper level Downtown Disney view. We got a pool view. The room was a bit small. The only good thing about it was it was close to the monorail.

Ok a little DLR background is needed about now. We previously have stayed twice at the Paradise Pier Hotel. We have always received our room request, the rooms are very spacious and include a coffee maker, DH likes his coffee in the morning

DLH had no coffee maker. The number one reason I chose the DLH was because it was close to the monorail. I now realize we got more for our money at PPH.

Dinner made up for the disappointment. We ate at Goofy's Kitchen, an all you can eat buffet. This came in real handy with two teens and a 12 yr old. My DN the 12 yr old can put more food away then anyone I have ever seen. This boy is always

he had four dinner plates full of food and dessert and ate every bit

After dinner DH was tired and went back to the room. Me and the kids had to walk our dinner off so it was off to Disneyland. First stop was Pirates. We got on the ride and went as far as across from the BB restaruant and stopped. 45 minutes later we had to climb over 6 boats to get out of the ride.

by this time I'm saying OMG I hope this isn't a bad sign. They gave us a free fastpass for any ride so, we headed over to the HM. DN had never seen the Holiday HM before. I really like the Jack Skellington theme. After that we met up with one of my BGF, she was on her last night there with her family. Unfortunately we only got to spend an hour with them because, we were so tired. We went back to the room to catch some

as we walked in the door DH was complaining about the sound of the pool area and the sound of water running

I asked him if he would go down to the front desk in the morning and ask for our original room request. He had no problem with that one.

Day 2
DH got up early in the morning and stubbed his toe

he did a real good number on it. But, he managed to go down to the front desk and complain about our room and the sound of running water all night long and they said we could get a room change on Sunday

We did DL all day long. Had breakfast at the River Belle Terrace, not to bad, and the prices weren't to bad either. Around noon DH had to go back to the room his toe was killing him. I let the kids go off on their own for awhile and I went and did some shopping.

We ate dinner at the ESPN Zone the first night of the World Series. This was the loudest dinner I have ever had. After dinner DD and I went to Downtown Disney for somemore shopping. After shopping we went back to DL for the fireworks. We tried a different location this time and watched the show from the MS RR station. We had a great spot to watch Imagine.

Here's a interesting thing we discovered. On the RR station platform there were all these reserved seats. We asked who you have to know to get one of those seats and the CM told us to go to City Hall to reserve them. We never went to CH to inquire about it because that was the only night of fireworks we would be there for. However if you are inclined to ask do so, I'm not sure if it cost extra.

Imagine is a beautiful fireworks show, the music goes great with it. DD got the whole thing on the camcorder so we will be able to enjoy it over and over again. We went back to the room. OMG could this room be anymore noisier, I keep telling myself tomarrow we get to change rooms.

Day 3 and 4 coming soon

**chezp** · 11-04-2004, 02:46 AM

Great start Susan - sorry to hear about the problems with the room and Pirates, but I hope your vacation gets better from here on in. Looking forward to the next installment.

**DebiDebiDebi** · 11-04-2004, 08:37 AM

Great start! Keep it coming!

**Colexis Mom** · 11-04-2004, 09:05 AM

Great start Susan! I hope you're off to a better room tomorrow!f And how awful for DH to stub his toe!

Can't wait for more

snoozy · 11-04-2004, 06:32 PM

Day 3
The room change is

the view is wonderful. The room is the same size but, I got the view we wanted. The music outside is much nicer then screaming kids

We did DCA today - I don't know why there are so many complaints about this park. We always have a

time here. Our favorite rides are Soarin over CA, CA Screamin, Grizzly Run and the new favorite Tower of Terror. The atmosphere in the park is wonderful, slower pace and less crowded then DL. Although it was fairly busy the whole time we were there.

Around 3pm we headed down to my younger sister's house for a BBQ. We had a great time visiting. Of course me being the big sister I have to tease her, she can be very anal. She lives in a beautiful house in an affluent neighboorhood in the OC. You could eat of her floors they are so clean but, of course they are never clean enough for her. We had a wonderful visit. I wish we could live closer together.

Back at the hotel I'm very pleased with the room change

and the view is great, there is a SouthAmerican band playing outside the Rainforest Cafe, great dancing music.

DD and I decided we had to go back to DCA to ride CA Screamin at night, oh

way better at night. We wish the park stayed open a little later, it closes at 6pm in the off season, except for weekends.

Day 4
What a beautiful day outside. Now if only the boys moodiness would go away. We headed over to DL to have breackfast at the Plaza Inn another all you can eat buffet. It was a character breakfast so it was a bit pricy, food was good though.

After breakfast DD and I just could not stand them anymore, we

them very much but, DH was hurting because of his toe

so he was grumpy, DS is 17 and he coped and attitude before breakfast because I asked him to brush his hair, DN was becoming a whinner, I had to remind him about our toilet dunking for whinners

so DD and I said you guys go do what you want and we will se you later.

DD and I went back to our room around 2pm for a rest and the guys were at the ESPN Zone

a very good place for them.

Around 6pm me and the kids went back to Goofy's Kitchen for dinner, its a fun place. I don't think I have mentioned the meal vouchers. Places like this is where they really come in handy.

After dinner had settled the kids went swimmging and I went to DTD to do some shopping, it was really nice walking around by myself. I got to take my time and really check the place out

Early to

because we have a very busy day tomorrow. My baby turns 16 boy, did that go by fast.

Day 5

Erin
We started the day at DL with breakfast at the River Belle again it was the only place they were having breakfast in the park and we had vouchers for that. You know the meal vouchers saved us alot of money on food but, they are really hard sometimes to get out of the coupon book, I think a debit card would be better.

We saw Snow White an Enchanted Musical. It was fun and there was a fun audience, which always makes for a good show. The set is very nice. Now I've heard some negative reviews about this show however, we enjoyed it very much even the 17 yr old, who by the way on our way over was saying, "why are we going to see a show we have on video". My response was, "because we are and you're going to like it". Turns out he did.

We went back to the room after the show to get some rest for the big birthday dinner. About 5pm we headed out to Buena Park to Medeival Times. If you havent been to a MT Restaruant you have got to go , thats a three big thumbs up for this one

We had a blast. You get to

for a Knight, we cheered for the Red and Yellow Knight. What a great time we had. The dinner you eat with you hands because its medieval times. The horses were absolutely beautiful and very full of themselves. They announced DD's birthday and she got an slice of birthday cake. It was a very

evening. So if you get a chance to go to one don't pass it up.

Day 6
We headed over to DCA did some rides and saw the Muppets 3-D show. Very cute but, is anyone else have trouble seeing after this show, it really did a number on DS and mines eyes. We already are nearsighted so I don't know if that had anything to do with it.

I let the kids go off on their own for awhile. Its nice when they get older. I of course went off to do, you guessed it more shopping. I was a bit dismayed though. Throughout our entire time at the DLR I was looking for a Dumbo stuffed toy, any size would do but, no where could I find a Dumbo, lots of Dumbo ears but, no stuff toys

Back at the room for an afternoon rest. This is a definite must. We went back to DL for the evening. I would like to talk about the rehabs going on. Tomarrowland is empty, they are rehabbing alot. The castle, OMG, they took the tarps down today and it is absolutely beautiful. The Tiki Room is getting a much needed rehab. The Matterhorn, we were able to see all the construction going on going back and forth on the monorail, the gue area is going to be wonderful. IASW was getting ready for the holidays. Pirates was getting a paint job on the outside, and the Columbia was all blocked off. All in all it was not an inconvience for us there was plenty else to do.

Day 7
Our last day

we are exahausted but, its a good kind of exahausted. We ended up doing a little at both parks, did more shopping, used up the meal vouchers. We got back to the room around 3pm and had plans to go see the last Aladdin show but, we never made it we were just to tired.

We had a great time and I have some final thoughts on what we experience. I know this has been long but, bare with me.

I don't think we will stay at the DLH again. For the amount of money we spent on the room we could have gotten a suite at PPH. Being close to the monorail was really nice but, in the long run if you are going to stay on site you get more for your money at PPH.

I also found out that all DLR guest can use the GCH entrance to DCA. We were told by a CM at DLH we could not. But, we did and never once did we get turned away.

We were told three different things about the sub ride. 1) they are doing research for Hong Kong Disney 2)no way in a million years are they going to bring back the sub ride it does not meet with CA law regarding the handicap or quality air 3) they are working on a Finding Nemo theme. So who knows.

The meal vouchers saved us alot of money on food but, you really have to plan where you are going to eat a head of time and that's not always easy to do. Like I said some kind of debit card would be better.

The rehab going on will be well worth it.

Next DL trip is going to be an all girl trip at the PPH and I think we will be doing a citypass next time.

Some of you might not like this one. Why would anyone in there right mind take children under 5 especially infants.I never heard so many

kids and miserable looking parents in my life. Wait until they are older so you and they can enjoy it more.

October was kind of crowded. Not like the holiday season but it was crowded. Feburary for the exception of Presidents weekend I think is the best time to go for the least crowds.

You should set aside one day just to do all the shows and I think that SN Musical would be better at night.

If you get stuck on a ride just go with it. Don't stress over it just make the best of it. When we got stuck on Priates this one woman came unglued and chewed all the CM's out over something they had no control over.

I love Disneyland, even though we did seven days we still didn't do everything we wanted to do. Not sure exactly when the all girl trip will take place but, yes, I have already started making plans for it.

Fantasmic! kid · 11-04-2004, 08:39 PM

[ QUOTE ]
Our favorite rides are Soarin over CA, CA Screamin, Grizzly Run and the new favorite Tower of Terror.

[/ QUOTE ]

Glad to see you liked it!

[ QUOTE ]
I had to remind him about our toilet dunking for whinners

.

[/ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]
We were told three different things about the sub ride. 1) they are doing research for Hong Kong Disney 2)no way in a million years are they going to bring back the sub ride it does not meet with CA law regarding the handicap or quality air 3) they are working on a Finding Nemo theme. So who knows.

[/ QUOTE ] The Nemo theme has been confirmed by Disney.
Glad to see you liked Imagine! I video taped the whole thing too... I watch it all the time.

**Colexis Mom** · 11-05-2004, 08:20 AM

Great job Susan! Thanks for sharing your report with us! I'm glad you all had a great time

loobyoxlip · 11-06-2004, 01:53 PM

We definitely have to get to Medeivil Times one of these trips. Sounds like so much fun. Thanks for the report!

snoozy · 11-06-2004, 05:27 PM

[ QUOTE ]
We definitely have to get to Medeivil Times one of these trips. Sounds like so much fun. Thanks for the report!

[/ QUOTE ]

Tina,
The boys would

it, we had such a good time there. They really out do themselves on the show.

Fantasmic! kid · 11-07-2004, 01:30 PM

One of my friends had a field trip to Mideivil times (gosh I love living in southern CA), and she kept going on and on about how cool it was, and about the food, and everything..... dose anyone have a picture of it? I really want to know what it looks like...

snoozy · 11-07-2004, 03:35 PM

I took lots of pictures inside but not out. It looks like a big castle and its right down the street from Knotts and across the street from the Wax Museum on Beach Blvd in Buena Park. Check out their website at I believe www.medievaltimes.com

When I go to Southern CA I always get a little home sick for it. I was born and grew up in Torrance.

KathyL · 11-07-2004, 05:46 PM

Thanks so much for your trip report. I am headed to a conference and DL in a few days. It will be my first visit. I will only have around 4 days to see as much as I can. I can't wait.

KathyL