Mom and Me at the Happiest Homecoming on Earth! - COMPLETE! About This Page:

[PrincessSharon]

I came out of SOC and we headed for A Bug’s Land. I really loved this part of the park. It was so cute!














Even the benches were cute!


This was a water play area for kids


The bathrooms were in a giant tissue box!

We had special reserved seating for It’s Tough to Be a Bug, but we didn’t need it for this either. The show is held inside the anthill.







The show was great as usual, but I had another big fingerprint on my 3-D glasses. After that, I made a note to myself to check for fingerprints before the film begins.

Most of the attractions in Flik’s Fun Fair are for little kids, but we rode Heimlich’s Chew Chew Train anyway, which was a walk on. I loved it so much! So cute! I took a bunch of pictures and realized after our ride that my memory card was full so I didn’t get most of them, so I had to ride again. I told DM I would ride alone, but she wanted to go again, too!




Heimlich chews his way from healthy food to junk food!








Brussels sprouts or candy? I know what I’d choose!










Candy corn! My favorite!

We checked on all the other rides, which had no lines, but didn’t ride anything else.


Flik’s Flyers

We had a 2:00 PS for Ariel’s Grotto, and it was after 1:00, so we headed over to check out Paradise Pier.



California Screamin’ was not running, and I can’t tell you how bummed I was about that. Well, that’s another one to add to the 2007 list!



We could hear people screaming, but the screams were coming from the Sun Wheel.



We checked in at Ariel’s Grotto at 1:45 for our 2:00 PS. We requested an outside table and were seated in about 5 minutes.






The view from our table

This was one of the last days that this character meal was Captain Mickey and friends. It changed over to the princesses on August 16. I thought this meal was the only place to dine with Mickey anywhere in the Disneyland Resort, so I wonder where Mickey is now? The characters in attendance today were Captain Mickey, Minnie, Goofy, Pluto, Chip and Dale.









For this meal, you choose a starter and entrée from the menu, rather than a buffet. I had the chicken noodle soup for starters while DM had a salad, which she said was great. My soup was quite tasty!

For the entrée, DM got fish & chips and I got a burger.





This was really a fun meal! The characters were constantly coming around, we even had multiple visits from some characters! Occasionally, they would stop and all do the chicken dance and they even made a conga line around the restaurant!







We were stuffed after our lunch and passed on dessert. When our waitress brought the check, we also got some cotton candy!



This was really a fun meal, and we both really loved it. We also got some Ariel’s Grotto buttons with Captain Mickey on them that I pinned on my fanny pack (you can see it in the picture of the cotton candy).

I had a few issues with my camera here because DM didn’t open the lens cap all the way when she was taking my pictures. The only picture I really missed was a super-cute pic of Mickey and Pluto in the most adorable pose! I really wish that one had come out because I know it would’ve been great. DM felt really bad and was trying to talk me into coming back, but it was just really one picture I was sad about and I wouldn’t be able to take it again anyway.

After this, DM made sure to tell me if she didn’t think the camera was actually taking pictures. The good news is that this was the last time we had issues with the camera (except for when it was my fault ).

I wanted to go get my camcorder so that I could tape the Aladdin show, so we went back to the GCH for it.


The Grand Californian entrance from DCA

Up Next: Rude people, wet clothes, and the Electrical Parade

[Colexis Mom]

What a great day Love all your pictures! And how great to ride ToT three times in a row

Can't wait for more

[lindawdw]

I'm really enjoying your TR! We were just at DL the end of July and I'm having fun reliving the trip. Your pics are great.

[PrincessSharon]

Day Two Part Two - Rude people, wet clothes, and the Electrical Parade

It was a short walk back to the room for the camcorder, and then right back into the park! We decided to hit SOC, but on the way, we stopped and I got some FPs for Grizzly River Run.

DM was really afraid to try Soarin’ Over California, but I assured her that the movement was very gentle and she would love it! She agreed to try it but was so nervous. A little kid next to her told her his grandma wasn’t riding with them because she was sick from riding TOT, which didn’t make DM feel any more at ease.

Once the film began, DM was totally hooked! She loved it so much and was telling everybody we chatted with in the park not to miss it! When she tells people about our trip, that is the first thing she talks about! She can’t wait to ride it again with DF when we go to WDW in October! She should know she can trust me!

After SOC, we headed over to get seats for the 4:15 performance of Aladdin. It was about 3:45 when we got in line. I taped most of the show, but no flash pictures were allowed, so no pics from Aladdin. We had special seating from our AAA package, and here we used it. The Hyperion theater is huge and absolutely beautiful. The reserved seating area was right in the front!

It was here that we encountered the rude people. When they started letting people in the theater, you could choose any row nearby. A couple of rows in front of us, a family was a little slow taking their seats and the couple behind them sat down in a more timely fashion. Well, it turned out that there wasn’t room for all of the slow family members, so the father kindly asked the couple to move down two seats so he could sit down, and they refused! People were just being seated, so it wasn’t really crowded at that time and the seats were like dead center of the theater, so they still would’ve had great seats. I couldn’t believe how rude they were! Everyone around them was making comments how rude it was and that the other family was there first, but they turned a deaf ear and didn’t budge! We couldn’t believe it! I figured the rude couple wanted the whole family (parents and four kids) to move down so they’d be directly in the center of the row. The father may have thought that too, so he had his family stay seated and he and the little boy took a seat at the end of the section. I just don’t get people sometimes.

I had heard many good things about the Aladdin show, and I was really looking forward to it. Can I tell you, it was fabulous! Great show and totally funny. And Genie makes jokes of things that are currently in the news (after Jasmine refuses to marry Prince Ali and flees, he says “Stop her before she gets to New Mexico!”) DM and I were cracking up the whole show. It was so funny and put us back in a good mood after that sour experience. I was kind of bummed that Aladdin didn’t come down on the big elephant, but maybe they took that out of the show? The reserved seating was great, but my advice would be to sit at least a third of the way back. If you are too close (and I would say we were), you cannot see Aladdin and Jasmine flying on the flying carpet. They were almost directly overhead for me, and all I could see when I looked up was the bottom of the carpet. Having experienced the show, I would probably try to get the front row of the mezzanine next time.

When I got the camcorder, I forgot to get an extra tape for it to tape Disney’s Electrical Parade, so DM volunteered to go get it for me while I used a FP to ride TOT. DM rocks! Mom!

She headed for the GCH and I went to TOT. The standby line was 45 minutes long, but I only waited about 20 minutes with my FP. Once the ride was over, I didn’t see DM yet, so I got a soda and called her to find out where to meet her. She’d stopped to watch the Block Party Bash (I’m so sorry I missed that – she said it was cute). She also told me that I had her park pass (was keeping them with the FPs in my FP holder). She explained to the CM at the GCH entrance, and the CM agreed to let her back in when she returned. nice CM!

DM was just on her way back now, so we agreed to meet right at the GCH entrance so I could use my GRR FP. Of course, I decided this before I actually looked at the return time on my FP. The return window was 7:50-8:50. I didn’t want to be wet that late, so I decided to just ride it now and be done with it. The standby line for GRR was 35 minutes, but luckily, the single riders line was open and I only waited about 5 minutes before getting on a boat.

Grizzly River Run totally kicks Kali River Rapids’ booty! Soooo fun and much longer and GRR has two big drops. DM watched for me to come around and was able to snap my picture ...



... right before I got DRENCHED! It was kind of a delayed splash after the second big drop. DM was surprised at how wet I was when I got off because I’d only been a bit damp when she snapped my picture. I had on canvas sneakers and they were soaked. I squooshed my way back to the GCH (good planning on Disney’s part – the GCH entrance is right next to GRR!) DM came with me to the room while I changed, and we showed her ticket to the CM at the entrance.

I was soaked to the skin so I changed my entire outfit. The only thing I didn’t change was my bra, and it was wet and ended up wetting my dry t-shirt! Once we got back to the park, we were looking for a snack. We headed over to Paradise Pier, because I wanted to check out the attractions in that area after the parade.

We ended up stopping at Burger Invasion, which is very cool looking, but the food is just McDonald’s.



We both got some fries to munch on and found a bench to sit on while we waited for the parade to start. From our bench, we had an excellent view of the Maliboomer.


I’ll be riding that later!

While we waited for the parade, we chatted with a nice family from North Carolina. DM told them to ride Soarin’! We decided that I would take video of the parade and DM would use the camera. I told DM just to take pictures like crazy and I would delete any I didn’t want. She did a great job getting pictures, and ended up getting one of my favorite shots of the trip!

OK, get the tomatoes ready. Don’t hate me, but, the music from the Electrical Parade is just as bad as It’s a Small World. Very repetitive. Very repetitive. Very repetitive. Annoying, isn’t it? OK, you can throw tomatoes at me now!

Even though I think the music is a bit … what’s the word I’m searching for? oh yes, repetitive I love the Electrical Parade. I was really glad for the chance to see it again.


















I love this shot













Once the parade ended, DM headed back to GCH and I did some exploring in Paradise Pier. It really is beautiful all lit up at night, but I couldn’t help feeling like I was at a carnival or something.









There was barely a line for King Triton’s Carousel, so I went for a spin.



I meandered over to the Maliboomer where there was a 25 minute standby line. The CM at the entrance told me there was a secret single rider’s line. I walked right on to the ride! I was seated next to a woman who hated the ride. She just repeated the f-word over and over the entire ride! Shame on me, but I was cracking up over that! She was ready to kill her daughter for making her go on it with her! The ride was really fun, and what a view from the top!

My next stop was Mulholland Madness. The single riders line was closed, but the standby ended up being only about a 10 minute wait. It was fun, but while I was riding it, I really started to feel like I was at a carnival.

The Golden Zephyr was operating, and I know that’s unusual (in fact it had been closed due to nonexistent “high winds” earlier that day). I seized the opportunity and went for a spin on that. I wouldn’t wait on a long line, but as a walk on, it was pretty fun.

My TOT FPs were burning a hole in my pocket (and it was getting pretty late), so I started walking over to the other side of the park. It was only later that I realized that I had one more FP for Soarin’ Over California that I completely forgot about.

By the time I reached TOT, it was 9:40 and the park would be closing at 10. I hoped to make it through the FP line at least before 10:00 so I could ride it two times. The FP line ended up taking 20 minutes and the park was closed when I got out.

I considered heading over to Disneyland, which would be open until midnight, but I had Early Entry tomorrow, starting bright and early at 7:00 a.m., so I walked back to GCH. DM was still awake and we chatted a bit before I set a wakeup call for 6:00 and turned in for the night.

Up next: Early Entry and Morning Madness!

[Colexis Mom]

Another fantastic update Sharon Love the pictures of the Electrical Parade

More please

[Tara O'Hara]

Just catching up here Sharon!! Whata terrific report and gorgeous pictures!! I especially love the one of the Scary Minibar!!

[DawnDenise]

Just found your report and loving it!! Love all the pictures! More please!!!

[DebiDebiDebi]

Your report is really great! Keep up the good work!

[PrincessSharon]

Day Three – Saturday, August 13
Early Entry and Morning Madness!

Since I’d gone to bed pretty early (for me), I was up at 5:30 this morning. I decided to get up and start getting ready for Early Entry. DM had decided that she wanted to enjoy GCH and would meet me in Disneyland later in the morning, so I’d be solo for the first hour or two of the morning.

DM woke up at about 5:45 (I didn’t wake her up, honest!), but she decided she’d like to make herself some coffee and just watch TV in bed until she felt like getting ready. DM has always been that way and it used to kill me when I was younger. I was always ready to hit the parks first thing and I’d have to wait around for everyone else to get going!

These days, it’s just like built-in solo time for me on a trip! DM answered when Mickey called at 6:00 (I was in the shower). That’s the first time she’s ever heard Mickey waking her up. The only other time she got a wakeup call, she hung up on Mickey!

I was ready for the day by 6:15, so I decided to head downstairs to the Bell desk to pick up my packages that had been sent over from the Emporium. I know they are not supposed to be ready for pickup until 7:00 a.m., but mine had been there since the day before and I’d never had a chance to go get them.

I brought them back up to the room and DM had her coffee and was back in bed watching the news! She said she’d probably meet me at 9:00, so I reminded her to bring her Toontown Morning Madness pass (which is Early Entry for Toontown).

Disneyland’s early entry is held a few days a week (Saturday was the only one we could make while we were there). The park opens an hour early to those who have parkhopper plus tickets. It doesn’t matter if you are a Disneyland Resort hotel guest or not. Toontown Morning Madness is available to package guests only (at least that’s what I think).

Since I’d have to do both things in one day, I wanted to be sure to get to the park right at opening, and then I’d have to make my way over to Toontown by 8:00 (Toontown normally opens an hour after the rest of the park – in this case Disneyland opened to all park guests at 8:00 and Toontown opened to all park guests at 9:00).

I was happy to find a really short line (like two people) at the bag checks. The turnstiles had short lines, too. I was walking down Main Street at 7:05. I headed straight for Fantasyland, stopping only to take a few pictures.





Whenever I hear DLR/WDW comparisons, people always mention how much smaller DL is than WDW. Personally, I didn’t feel like DL was smaller than the Magic Kingdom, but Sleeping Beauty Castle was one thing I did notice to be small (but beautiful). Also, when I think about how I walked from Space Mountain all the way to my room at the GCH in less than 15 minutes, I’d say it’s smaller. It just didn’t feel small to me.

As you can imagine, Fantasyland was pretty empty at that time of the day. I was sorry DM wasn’t with me, because all of the golden ride vehicles were empty, but I didn’t have anyone to take a picture of me in it.



The first thing I went on was Peter Pan and there was no wait. I walked right on. I tried taking pictures without the flash and they all came out terrible!

Next up was Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride. This was a favorite of mine and I was sad when they took it out of WDW, so I was happy to ride it again. I walked right on to Mr. Toad, too!





I didn’t get any pictures of the ride that weren’t blurry and dark. I wasn’t feeling insane this morning, so I skipped the teacups!



One of these days, I’m going to ride it, but I have to be in the right mood or have the right motivation to do so.

Next up was Alice in Wonderland. This is one of the few things that I remember about my 1987 trip. It was a walk on and there was no one in the car in front of me or behind me, so I decided to use the flash, and I got good pictures!










I love this picture. I can hear her screaming “OFF with her head!”





After Alice, I made my way back over to ride Pinocchio, which had no wait. No one was near me again, so I took more flash pictures!















Next was Snow White, and more flash pictures!















Snow White seemed to be the old version from WDW.

The crowds were building slightly by now, but it still wasn’t bad. Dumbo had a very short line, but I decided to skip it (but I can’t remember why ).



It probably had something to do with me rushing over to ride the Matterhorn. This is something I have vivid memories of from my previous trip, so I was really eager to ride it again. The line was pretty short, I waited about 10 minutes before getting on the ride. It was every bit as fun as I remembered!

The Storybookland Canal Boats were just opening up, so I hopped in line for that. The wait turned out to be just about 5 minutes. This was pretty cool! I loved all the miniature scenes!



















My next stop was to get myself a set of golden ears. I’d been wanting a set since we got there, but the line was always really long (or it was somewhere where they couldn’t be embroidered). I checked out the Mad Hatter, and SCORE! No line! I got my golden ears! I asked the CM about the cards for the Virtual Magic Kingdom game. You get a card with a code for golden ears for your character when you buy a real hat. He gave me one and said he’d forgotten he was supposed to give them out. He also gave me a few extras! I used one of my extra cards to trade with someone for a princess crown!

[PrincessSharon]

It was already past 8:00 by now, so I made a beeline to Toontown for Morning Madness.



When I showed my voucher at the gate, the CM told me I have ears like her boss! By the time I got to the town square or whatever, the ceremony had started and I couldn’t get a good enough spot for pictures.

It was a cute ceremony and we all had to make a pledge, then were all made honorary citizens of Toontown! We also got buttons with them that said Citizen of Toontown.

Once that was over, I had a look around Toontown. DL’s version is so much better than WDW’s. So much more to see and do.













I noticed that Roger Rabbit Cartoon Spin had no wait, so I decided to go for a spin LOL. It took me about 5 minutes to get on the ride, but only because the queue is so long! No one was nearby, so I took more flash pictures!



























I decided to call my DM to see what she was up to. She was still at GCH! I told her I was going to get in line to see Mickey, and she could call me when she got to the park. First, I went to take pictures of all the homes in Toontown. At this time, each resident was standing in front of their house greeting visitors.


Goofy's


Minnie's


Donald's


Chip and Dale's

Then I went over to Mickey’s house.







There was a pretty good-sized line there to see Mickey, but I waited anyway. Mickey took a break while I was waiting, so it ended up being about a 20 minute wait to see him. Instead of being out back like he usually is, Mickey was greeting visitors at his front door. The kind CM took my picture with the main mouse.



Then I went through Mickey’s house. It was great because Mickey being out front really broke up the line and gave you a chance to spend some time in his house without being crowded. I got lots of pictures with no one in them.

























Once I got out of Mickey’s house, I walked over to the entrance of Toontown to try and catch DM. I gave her a call and she was back in front of Mickey’s house. Don’t know how I missed her!

We headed over to the Post Office area and had fun trying out all the mailboxes and stuff. It was perfect timing, because we also met Goofy, my favorite, over there! He was just coming out, so there was only one family on line in front of us. I got my picture with Goofy ...



... and then we decided to go on Roger Rabbit again, which still had no wait. DM hadn't ridden it before and liked it as much as I did. You control the spinning on this ride, and if you don’t spin at all, you are automatically turned at certain points. I can tell you that you really can’t spin the cars like the teacups, so for those of you who, like me, can’t take the crazy spinning, don’t be afraid to give this one a try!

We’d done everything we wanted to do in Toontown, so we decided to head over to New Orleans Square via the train.


Luggage at Toontown train station

There was no line and we waited about 10 minutes before a train pulled in.

Up Next: Crowds!

[Colexis Mom]

More great updates Sharon Great pictures! You're certainly getting a lot done this morning

[disneymom9092]

[ QUOTE ]
More great updates Sharon Great pictures! You're certainly getting a lot done this morning

[/ QUOTE ]

I totally agree! I'm really enjoying this!

[DawnDenise]

What a great morning Sharon!!! You got so much accomplished! Can't wait for more!!

[dsnytina]

What a beautiful morning you had! DL feels much more like a Wonderland when it isn't crowded!
So glad you and your DM are having a great time together!
Tina

[PrincessSharon]

Thanks, everyone, for all the nice comments! Now, on with the report!