Forever Young: A Disneyland Trip 50 Years in the Making COMPLETED 1/16/16 - Page 11 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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I'm loving that you have gotten your first glimpse of DL and DCA. I believe it is your unbridled, childlike exuberance of being there for the first time that makes this TR so much more exciting than others I have read. Not to say that I didn't enjoy those thoroughly, but yours adds that extra little edge.
Thanks so much! I think the five year old girl in came out in full force at DLR. I just felt I was gushy every moment.
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Originally Posted by HollyH
I loved that single bag check! I rarely hop at WDW but it was so easy to do at DLR!!! And I will agree with you in that DCA is far superior to DHS. I'm not a huge fan of DHS, but I loved DCA! WoC, RSR, Soarin'Over CA, Aladdin. GRR, I could go on and on.....
DHS is my least favorite of the four parks at WDW, but I thoroughly loved DCA for all the same reasons you mentioned.
Quote:
Originally Posted by KMB733
Great purchases from World of Disney. I can't wait to see your reaction when you enter the parks. I will admit that I cried the first time I stepped onto Main Street!
I didn't realize until I started today's update that I had forgotten to include the following at the end of the previous update.
Miles covered = 4.64 (So we managed to walk our four miles though not all at once.)
Next: Beginning our first visit to Disneyland
Wednesday, October 7 – Beginning our first visit to Disneyland
I was awake at 4:00 PDT (6:00 CDT) and napped off and on until 5:00 PDT (7:00 CDT) when I gave up and got out of bed. I read my Bible, took notes for yesterday, and checked e-mails all from the cushy bench at the kitchen table, so Luke could continue to snooze. I thought this might become my morning routine while here, but I was so exhausted every other night that I slept soundly until the alarm sounded or right before it would.
Park hours start early here at 8:00 AM, so by 6:50, I was getting ready with Luke getting up shortly after 7:00. We left the room a little before 8:00, leaving the resort through the Downtown Disney District entrance. Turning right once inside DTD, we walked the short distance to bag check for both DL and DCA. It had taken us around 7 minutes to get from our room to here. Bag check was a bit busier this morning, but we were soon through and headed to the ticket gate. Of course as we waited to scan our tickets, I had to take another photo of the fall decorations, this time in the daylight. But our wait wasn't long at all.
Just past the ticket gate, I took a quick photo of the train station with the 60th Anniversary celebration sign. We didn’t dally as we were excited to get inside the park. Okay, one more shot before we enter the tunnel.
Once we came out of the tunnel, I stopped to take in the whole place. There is a good chance that my mouth fell open, too! In my observations, I eventually noticed Dale dressed as a police officer, and Luke noticed Dale hardly had any line. So my first experience at Disneyland was a Dale meet and greet complete with a photo. By the way the morning was cool with the temperature in the mid 60s, hence my jacket. I look pretty happy, too!
Our initial plan involved picking up our PhotoPass+ lanyard and then grabbing FastPasses for Space Mountain. Afterwards, we’d ride Buzz Lightyear standby. The kink in our plan was that we had absolutely no idea where to pick up the lanyard. Luke suggested I ask the first cast member I saw. I did just that, and she directed us to a corner shop at the right end of Main Street, Main Street Photo. On the way I got a few more photos of the fall decorations. I especially love Disney’s jack-o-lanterns. They always make me smile.
A Plethora of Pumpkins
Okay, I took a lot of pumpkin photos, but I’ll need them for a scrapbook spread I’ve planned. :wink:
At Main Street Photo, I initially got in the wrong line. In my defense it was the only line at the time, and the available cast members did not call me over. When the gentleman in front of me finished his transaction, the cashier/cast member redirected me to Kathleen who had just finished with another guest. She was super sweet and efficient, explaining how PhotoPass+ worked. I kept thinking as she talked, “Been there, done that.” I sort of felt like I had stepped back into Disney World past.
I know we walked into the hub, but we immediately turned right into Tomorrowland for the SM FastPasses. It wouldn’t be until about 15 minutes later that I realized I had not seen the castle. The lack of perspective keeps Sleeping Beauty’s castle so much more hidden than Cinderella’s at the Magic Kingdom. We will rectify that in time. We walked speedily to Space Mountain, hearing folks coming from that direction saying it was down. We kept going because we were interesting in FastPasses and thought these might still be available. We learned at the ride that if a ride at Disneyland is down, FPs are not issued. Another lesson learned was that the Space Mountain FP machines are at the top of the ramp that leads to the FP/Standby entrances.
Nothing else to do here, we walked back to Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, which had a very short wait, basically the walk through the queue. Following my usual habit, I photographed the queue, but I had to be quick because the line was moving and moving quickly.
Soon enough we had reached the our Star Cruiser, the camera was stashed, and we pulled out our guns. Why can’t we do this at the Magic Kingdom? It makes shooting at Zurg’s Z’s so much easier.
It thought I took a photo of our scores, which were marginally better than our usual ones at WDW, but evidently I did not as there is one on my camera or my phone. I do remember we were both Level 3 as this was flashed along with our scores on the screens in our car. Another cool feature of this Buzz ride. Okay, I wrote up the rough draft of this update last night, and I would swear I was thorough in looking through all my photos at that time. Then today as I was pulling up my photos from Photobucket, lo and behold there was the one of our scores.
As we were exiting, Luke saw the Buzz and alien mural, and immediately situated himself for a photo. this man!
Up next and close by was Star Tours, a little surreal that it was at Disneyland instead of California Adventure since that would have been more like Hollywood Studios. The standby time was listed at 20 minutes, but I think in reality we were on in closer to 10 – 12 minutes. That time was not wasted as I wisely took photos as we progressed.
The Star Wars queue
Luke even noticed my name on one of the items. This label was on the gizmo to the right in the above photo.
Per our usual, we loved this ride, which is pretty much identical to the version at DHS once we were in the simulator.
NEXT: Breakfast with Mary and Our First Look at Sleeping Beauty’s Castle
I think picking up the Photopass lanyard is a bit of a nightmare generally, as we had exactly the same experience when we tried to pick up ours, we had no clue which line to get into... They do need to explain that a bit better.
Glad you finally got to step foot in Disneyland and what a thrill it must have been! You certainly made some nice purchases and hope you'll have room in your luggage for the return trip! Seems like you are having a nice time on your first full day in DL with some attractions in already! Too bad SM was down! Hope you got to ride it later in the trip!
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October 6, 2017-Enjoying an amazing dinner at Victoria & Albert's with PP's Dot and Drew
My TR from my most recent trip is now underway. Includes: Universal Studios Florida, Disney World and Sea World Orlando Trifecta TR -Updated December 10th! TR is now COMPLETED!
Great morning! It's amazing how quickly you can walk from the resort to the park! Too bad SM was not running.
It was amazing and made for very easy mornings.
Quote:
Originally Posted by chezp
I loved the photo with Dale - very cool!
I think picking up the Photopass lanyard is a bit of a nightmare generally, as we had exactly the same experience when we tried to pick up ours, we had no clue which line to get into... They do need to explain that a bit better.
I thought made I was just too excited and hadn't paid attention, so it's good to know that you were confused, too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Disneybine
I have to admit, I was a bit underwhelmed when I first saw the castle at DL
When I finally really paid attention to it, I was a wee bit disappointed, too.
Glad you finally got to step foot in Disneyland and what a thrill it must have been! You certainly made some nice purchases and hope you'll have room in your luggage for the return trip! Seems like you are having a nice time on your first full day in DL with some attractions in already! Too bad SM was down! Hope you got to ride it later in the trip!
Thankfully, SM didn't stay down all day, so we'll be back.
You know, I kept wondering where the heck your TR was I looked and looked and looked. Unfortunately I was looking in the Disneyworld section and not the Disneyland section! No matter. I found you now and I am all caught up!
Great start, Cam!! Your dinner at Tortilla Joe's looks delicious!! I LOVE the Grand Californian!! Isn't that secret entrance the best?? Your pictures are gorgeous, as always and I can feelyour excitement at being there!!! The park looks amazing decorated for Halloween!! Great buys as well in DD!!
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Last edited by Tara O'Hara; 10-25-2015 at 03:28 PM..
I loved all your purchases made your first night there and you're excitement at being in DL is just so adorable I remember my first experience visiting DL in which I didn't know where to look first and then started the comparison to all the similar but a little different things in WDW! Glad you enjoyed your rides on Buzz and Star Tours! Hope you get your FP for SM as the line is pretty long for that ride but so worth it!
This update gave me such a surreal feeling. The photo with you and Dale, then the photo with Luke and the Buzz tells the true feeling of the Disneyland experience. My brother's family had the same experience this past May. Looking forward to the next update.
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The castle there certainly is not the same focus as it is in WDW, that's for sure. Your morning sounds quite a bit like ours. The rides were exactly the same, only instead of seeing a chipmunk, we saw Buzz Lightyear. I am loving these updates! And I am wondering what you did with your jacket because I know what happened with the temperature....
You know, I kept wondering where the heck your TR was I looked and looked and looked. Unfortunately I was looking in the Disneyworld section and not the Disneyland section! No matter. I found you now and I am all caught up!
Great start, Cam!! Your dinner at Tortilla Joe's looks delicious!! I LOVE the Grand Californian!! Isn't that secret entrance the best?? Your pictures are gorgeous, as always and I can feelyour excitement at being there!!! The park looks amazing decorated for Halloween!! Great buys as well in DD!!
That secret entrance is the best!!! I was afraid I might miss MK's fall decorations, but no way. Disneyland is all dolled up for fall, too.
Quote:
Originally Posted by lindawdw
I loved all your purchases made your first night there and you're excitement at being in DL is just so adorable I remember my first experience visiting DL in which I didn't know where to look first and then started the comparison to all the similar but a little different things in WDW! Glad you enjoyed your rides on Buzz and Star Tours! Hope you get your FP for SM as the line is pretty long for that ride but so worth it!
I think it would be impossible once you've been to one park not to compare the two. But I honestly love them both.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Roxie2006
This update gave me such a surreal feeling. The photo with you and Dale, then the photo with Luke and the Buzz tells the true feeling of the Disneyland experience. My brother's family had the same experience this past May. Looking forward to the next update.
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I think the five year old girl in came out in full force at DLR. I just felt I was gushy every moment. 
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In my observations, I eventually noticed Dale dressed as a police officer, and Luke noticed Dale hardly had any line. So my first experience at Disneyland was a Dale meet and greet complete with a photo. By the way the morning was cool with the temperature in the mid 60s, hence my jacket. I look pretty happy, too! 
this man!
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Hope you got to ride it later in the trip!
I looked and looked and looked. Unfortunately I was looking in the Disneyworld section and not the Disneyland section!
No matter. I found you now and I am all caught up!
. The photo with you and Dale, then the photo with Luke and the Buzz tells the true feeling of the Disneyland experience. My brother's family had the same experience this past May. Looking forward to the next update.
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