Our Great Disneyland Birthday/Graduation Adventure 2014 - Page 3 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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What a great end to your day - I love the way the attractions are so close to each other in Disneyland. In fact, I love the way the parks are so close to each other as well!
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Sounds like you are having a great celebration. I love the coziness of the California Parks. It suits me not to have to walk miles between attractions and I love being able to move easil between parks.
On the first full day, we accomplished a ton, and we were happy. Still, Joel positively yearned to see those Frozen girls! So, as Day 2 began, that was goal #1. We were up early and to the park before opening. In fact, we saw the opening show at the entrance that morning - a real bonus. It's much like the WDW version, with the train pulling up, loaded with characters, and brightly dressed performers singing and dancing. Shortly after the show ended, guests were ushered through the tunnels on either side of the train station, in an orderly manner, behind a slow-moving rope. I noticed one CM carried a small hand-held sign that looked intriguing, and indeed it was for folks who wanted to get in line for the Frozen greeting. I pointed it out to Joel, and we positioned ourselves with that line just as it was beginning to form. I have to give DL props here. There were only two CMs, one with the sign, and one that I would call a handler for the crowd. Michael had a loud but pleasant presence. He had obviously been assigned to this job because he had a genuine gift for dealing with the crowd, simultaneously keeping it orderly and entertained. We proceeded exactly according to Michael's directions, down Main Street, stopping at the hub, where we were entertained by his antics and stories of Arendelle royalty. After more instructions, we were off to the greeting area - I mean, Arendelle. Before we started moving again, I counted the number of people in front of us in this line, and there were less than 15! Still, I didn't want to get Joel too excited yet, because I didn't know what lay in front of us when we arrived in Fantasyland. I wondered if there might already be a line of people who were staying on property and had gotten early entrance to the park. Also, Michael kept warning us that they could not guarantee both Anna and Elsa, and Joel really wanted to see both, but I convinced him that we needed to be thankful for whatever we got.
We arrived at the gates of Arendelle to the greatest surprise of the trip - nobody else was in line!!!! What???? Someone asked Michael how long the wait was from our approximate location, and he said those most lovely words, "Oh, from here, only about 10 minutes." WHAT???? I was over the moon! Of course, those 10 minutes breezed by, and soon Joel was in the presence of Queen Elsa. Oh yeah, we had already been told that only Elsa was present, but that wasn't an issue at all after the 10 minute announcement. Now, Elsa was quite formal in her greeting. She maintained that kind of stiff, aloof presence that she had for most of the movie. I guess it's part of the act, but I thought a bit more warmth (ha ha ha) might have been nice. Joel didn't seem to mind. He was all about the autograph and the photo op, which went flawlessly. My favorite part was that we could get on about our day early in the morning! Oh yes, Olaf! He's perched on top of the cottage used for the greeting, and he chats with the guests waiting in line, although all of his statements are pre-recorded. He isn't interactive, but he is just adorable.
Fabulous! Now that we'd conquered the dreaded (did I say dreaded?) Frozen greeting, I was ready for some Disneyland fun. We quickly rode Peter Pan's flight, before the line got too long, and then went to It's a Small World. This is yet another case where the Disneyland version is superior to WDW. I loved the exterior loading area, and the added Disney character dolls are very cute. We saw Ariel and Flounder, Peter Pan (flying above the boat), Alice and the White Rabbit, Cinderella, Pinocchio, Aladdin and Jasmine, Nemo and Dory, Mulan and Mushu, Lilo and Stitch, and Woody and Jessie as we proceeded through the ride. When we left Small World, it was still just shy of 9:00 A.M! Toontown was about to open, and it's just around the corner, so off we went.
Goal #2 was to do everything we wanted to do in Toontown before noon. At 9:00 A.M., I should've set a loftier goal, because this took no time at all. At the opening of Toontown, all the resident characters come out and wave guests into their respective greeting locations. We saw Pluto and got a quick photo before he even got to his assigned spot. Then, Joel wanted to visit Mickey and Minnie in their houses, which we accomplished within about 15 minutes total. After that, Goofy was at his post, outside his house, which you can't visit inside. It's exterior only. Four characters, four photos, four autographs, all in about 25 minutes...not bad at all. Toontown has a couple of rides that Joel wanted to ride. We rode Roger Rabbit's Car Toon Spin, which reminded me mechanically of Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, with lots of twists and turns, things popping up, and loud, boisterous music and dialogue throughout. It was lots of fun. Then we rode Gadget's Go Coaster. This one is reminiscent of The Barnstormer at WDW, pretty short, but good fun for kids and adults alike. Before leaving Toontown, I wanted to take some photos of the general area and also some of Joel and/or me inside several of the very cute "cars" that are available just for photo ops. The theming of the entire Toontown area is just as you would expect - whimsical and over-the-top graphical design. It's a great location for pictures. We did absolutely everything we planned to do here and were still finished and ready to move on shortly after 10:00.
At this point, I didn't have a particular plan, so I asked Joel where he would like head next. He chose another greeting location, Fantasy Faire Royal Hall. When we arrived there, there was a posted wait time of 50 minutes. We got in line, and I began to engage Joel in conversation to help pass the time, because I knew he might get frustrated and impatient after 20 or 25 minutes. We hadn't been in line very long when I saw someone with a DAS going into what I figured must be an alternate entrance. Remember that DL has relatively few Fastpass attractions, and none for character greetings, so I hadn't considered using the DAS...until then. So, I suggested to Joel that we leave the line and go to a guest relations kiosk to at least ask. I figured even if we couldn't use the DAS for the greeting, all we would lose was about 5 minutes of time to go and pose the question. We approached the nearest kiosk, back in Fantasyland, and asked our question. The very pleasant CM politely told us that they don't normally allow the DAS for greetings. I looked at Joel and was just about to say, "Let's go back and get in the line again," when the CM said, "but since you came all this way, I'll tell you that I am the lead for this section, and I can okay an open time Fastpass for you. She pulled out two Fastpasses, filled in our names and the princess greeting location, and wished us a magical day. Now that is why I love Disney. I did tell her that we didn't expect her to make an exception for us, but she waved off my mild protest and handed me the Fastpasses. Far be it from me to refuse a gift, so we took the Fastpasses and thanked her profusely for her kindness. Off to see princesses! Joel saw Jasmine, Ariel, and Snow White, all of whom made great, Disneyesque conversation. Ariel told Joel she liked the "shell" he was wearing (AKA his ball cap). Three photos and autographs later, it still wasn't close to noon! I tell you, I was loving Disneyland!
How about heading over to Tomorrowland? Okay! By this time, the waits were a bit longer, so for the first official time today, we used the DAS to get a wait time for Star Tours. While we waited, we rode Astro Orbiter and Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, then went to Star Tours. My young character lover wanted to see Thor and Captain America in Innoventions, so that was our next stop. In the Innoventions building, there was a specific path that we needed to take to see these guys. Thor was first. We waited about 20 minutes before being ushered into a "transport device" that would take us to Asgaard. This was extremely cool. The Thor greeting is really special. The room is designed to look like the throne room on his home planet. He comes down a staircase, all decked out in his regalia. He's engaging and funny. When Joel told him I am a fan of Loki (his much darker, adopted brother), Thor jokingly told me to get out. All of the Thor experience was terrific. Next came Captain America. Again, we waited about 20 minutes. Joel loved this guy, but I thought he was a bit bland. Still, Joel was pleased with him so photo, autograph, check, check.
As for the rest of Innoventions, there is quite a bit to see and do. Joel tried briefly to play a game at one of the Kinect consoles, but he was easily frustrated and gave up after just a few minutes. There's also an Ironman display, complete with several suits and an interactive, virtual reality kind of "suit up like Ironman" area. The wait here was about 40 minutes, and I wasn't interested in waiting, so I suggested we move on and try another day. After a quick look downstairs, we headed out of Innoventions. We knew we would be back later in the trip, and maybe we could experience more of this pavilion then.
Next door to Innoventions is Redd Rocket's Pizza Port. Joel is nothing if not a pizza lover, so that would be lunch. The pizza at DL is different than WDW pizza. Redd Rocket's has giant slices, so Joel got a slice of cheese, and I got the veggie. There were also a couple of salads available, as well as pasta with either Alfredo or marinara sauce. We just went with the pizza and a couple of drinks. I was pleasantly surprised with the veggie pizza. It was flavorful and not too heavy on the sauce. Best of all, Redd Rocket's is air conditioned, which was very nice by our 12:30ish lunch time.
Wow, a very good morning - I think that's understating it a bit! Wow, only 10 minutes to see Queen Elsa, how amazing is that? And I'm not surprised you almost ran out of things to do, you got so much polished off so early on. That was a truly magical moment with the Cast Member at Fantasy Faire Royal Hall!
Sounds like you are having a great time. Isn't it so nice to be able to see so much so quickly. It leaves time later for just relaxing and people watching.
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Waiting for our next adventure after enjoying our Alaska cruise. Jenn
Sounds like you are having a great time. Isn't it so nice to be able to see so much so quickly. It leaves time later for just relaxing and people watching.
It is the greatest bonus of going to the Anaheim parks, no doubt. Plus, the fact that we were walking distance to everything made everything so much more relaxing. That really is the word.
Wow! I have really enjoyed this TR so far. I'm the mother of an only (6) and I love mother-son trips!
I'm so glad that there is the DAS for those who need it to enjoy the more popular attractions. It sounds like it is very easy to use, and beyond that, you got some great Disney Magic service.
I'm really interested in how you are going to pend your next few days, as you have really seen and done so much already. I'm considering a 5 day pass for our next trip to DLCA (we did 4 last time), this TR will help me with that.
Your son sounds really sweet. I love that you could make this happen for him!
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And I'm not surprised you almost ran out of things to do, you got so much polished off so early on. That was a truly magical moment with the Cast Member at Fantasy Faire Royal Hall! 
Waiting for our next adventure after enjoying our Alaska cruise. 
Jenn
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