Our Great Disneyland Birthday/Graduation Adventure 2014 - Page 2 - PassPorter - A Community of Walt Disney World, Disneyland, Disney Cruise Line, and General Travel Forums
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Loving your TR so far! I really like reading it from the perspective of someone who's never been. We love DL, it's our home park and we are heading there in November again! You are making me realize all over again why we love it so much! Keep posting, I'm anxiously waiting for the next part!
We set the alarm for 6:30 A.M.! What's that you say? It wasn't actually as bad as you might imagine. We were coming from the Eastern Time Zone, so we sort of gained three hours traveling to California. It was more like 9:30 Eastern Time, so not so bad when the alarm sounded. Of course, for our first official day at Disneyland, we had no problem getting up and at it! We were both clean and dressed within 40 minutes. I got breakfast ready while Joel showered, so we ate and gathered our stuff for the park. I made sure I got my confirmation number for lunch, since we had our World of Color package that day. How exciting!!!! Actually, everything we needed was pretty much in my cross body bag...camera, wallet with cash, my new iPhone, etc. All Joel carried was his wallet, basically for I.D. purposes. So, once we had our belongings arranged for the day and valuables stashed in the room safe, we set out on our walk across the street to Walt's original creation. As part of our Orbitz package, we had a voucher for our 3 day park hoppers with a 4th day free, but of course I had already decided to ask if we could add on the 5th day! By 7:30, I was standing in front of a very nice CM who assured me we could "always upgrade." Within two minutes tops, we had our 5 day hoppers, plus our voucher for our Magic Morning, which I chose for our last park day, the following Tuesday. Now, it was on to the gate and our wait to enter Disneyland at 8:00 A.M.
Now, here's where our story takes a bit of a turn. Joel's major goal during our park days was to meet as many characters as possible. Rides are great, and over the five days, we would enjoy plenty of those, but character greetings rule for my son. The (pronounced THEEE) number one, almost non-negotiable, target was of course my worst nightmare. That's right -Anna and Elsa!!! Of course, I hadn't thought about the fact that today was Thursday, and therefore a Magic Morning for many visitors. So, after I pretty much insisted that we stop for a DAS (Autism) and to trade in yet another voucher, this time for our pre-paid Photopass, we finally made our way to the Frozen greeting area about 8:15. Heads up, people. That's too late. Let me just pause here in my story to give all the CMs who work this greeting area a BIG pat on the back. During our days at the Disneyland park, we saw no guests giving them grief, but oh so many times I heard these folks oh so politely telling people with small children, many of whom were in Anna or Elsa dresses, "The wait time from this point is approximately three hours." Some people said things such as, "That's crazy," but nobody blamed or scolded these hard-working Disney cast members...at least, not that I saw or heard. Kudos to all of them and to those who have obviously trained them well. It must be a thankless job.
Okay, so I established that 8:15 A.M. is too late to show up to the Frozen greeting area. In fact, we heard those dreaded words, "The wait time from this point is approximately three hours," and my heart sank. Would my first morning in the original Magic Kingdom be spent entirely in this one single line? I certainly didn't want that, but I didn't want to make that decision entirely on my own. Joel and I had discussed this possibility, so he was somewhat prepared, and after a few seconds of careful consideration, he opted to try another time. Glory, Hallelujah! I quickly told him I thought that was wise, we could do other fun things with our first morning, and whisked him out of that line before he could change his mind!! Now, for those who can't stand the suspense, I'll just say that eventually this story had a Disneyesque happy ending.
No Anna and Elsa greeting meant we needed to find something else to do. Let's see. What could that be? Uh, anything? We are at Disneyland!! So, it was off to the rides of Fantasyland. First came Snow White's Scary Adventure, which was such a nice reminder of the now gone WDW version. Then, he saw characters, Alice and Mad Hatter...check, check...that's two!! I requested the Storybookland Canal Boats, since I really wanted to experience the rides that we can't experience at WDW. Then, we rode Mr. Toad's Wild Ride, and it definitely became one of our new favorites. Finally, we used our previously DAS-arranged time for Peter Pan's Flight. There's one notable difference between this ride and the WDW version. This one stops at the end. In fact, it stops rather abruptly, and we were sort of jarred by it. Brace yourself. It's like somebody stomping on the brake.
Alice and the Mad Hatter whetted Joel's appetite for more characters, so we set off for Pixie Hollow. We waited about 20 minutes in this line, but there are a lot of Pixie Hollow details to notice, so the wait was very pleasant. Speaking of pleasant, I also want add that the Southern California weather is fabulous!!! I know why people want to live in that part of the country! So, as a bonus while we were waiting in the beautiful climate at Pixie Hollow, Peter Pan himself happened by and just posed with the guests near the end of the line, included big fan Joel. He even told Joel that he spotted him when he was crossing the bridge. A few minutes later, Joel met Rosetta, who spoke with a distinctly southern accent, and then on to Tinkerbell. The Photopass photographer told us that Rosetta was from the "south side of Pixie Hollow." How cute! I loved that! Is she really? I have no idea because frankly I am unfamiliar with any pixie lore, but I thought it was an adorable thing to say. So, now the character count was at 5. Onward!
After riding Peter Pan, we had gotten a return time with the DAS for Matterhorn, so our Pixie Hollow time was used to help with that wait. Now, we rode Matterhorn. It's fun, but it isn't what I'd call a smooth ride. It twists and turns and jerks you around a good bit. Still, it's classic Disneyland, and it must be done, right? Right! Now, the Matterhorn is right next door to Tomorrowland. A friend of mine who has visited Disneyland many times had told me that everything was much more compact - not much distance between attractions, so you really can hit several attractions in a pretty short amount of time. If we're plussing and minusing Disneyland and WDW, Disneyland gets a plus for that detail.
Tomorrowland - first stop had to be Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters, since Buzz has been a Joel favorite for...oh...his whole life. We loved this ride. Yes, it's much like Buzz Lightyear Space Ranger Spin at WDW, but with the notable exception that the "blasters" on this ride are hand-held, which means you can aim better and hit more targets. We give this ride the edge over WDW. At the end, you can email your ride photo to yourself. However, it's not printable from the email. It's just a small image inside the email, so don't plan to make prints. If I had known that ahead of time, I would have had it added to the Photopass.
On the way to Buzz, we got a return time for Star Tours, so that was our next stop. This ride is exactly like the WDW version, except for the exterior. I love it at WDW, and I loved it at Disneyland. Joel says, "Me too!"
Okay, how's that for our first morning at Disneyland? All right, so we had one fairly major disappointment with Anna and Elsa, but everything else was pretty great, right? Stay tuned for our next installment, everyone.
And people say things about my cliffhangers??? I have to know when and how you saw Anna and Elsa and how many other characters you saw. Plus I want to know about the other things you did. I enjoyed what you wrote but I need more - hurry back.
Close to noon, I knew we needed to begin making our way out of the Disneyland Park. Having never been to Disney California Adventure and not knowing how long it might take us to get where we needed to be, I wanted to allow plenty of time. We had a 1:00 PM lunch reservation at Wine Country Trattoria, allowing us preferred viewing for tonight's World of Color show. So, we meandered down Main Street, USA toward the entrance/exit of Disneyland. I noticed that CMs at the turnstiles were giving hand stamps. We had park hoppers, so I wondered why we would need a hand stamp. I explained that we had hoppers and asked if we needed the stamp, and the answer was a quick, "Oh, yes!" Okay. So, we got our hands stamped, walked across the courtyard dividing DL and DCA, and approached the gates of DCA. We scanned our hoppers, had our hand stamps verified, and we were inside the gates of DCA in a matter of moments.
At its entrance, both exterior and immediately inside the gates, this park is reminiscent of Disney Hollywood Studios in Orlando. The main street, Buena Vista Street, looks much like Hollywood Blvd at DHS. Upon closer inspection, however, there are differences. After some time to consider it, I decided that Buena Vista Street has a quaintness about it that I really like. It seems cozy to me. I loved the Red Car Trolley that was centered around the hub near the Carthay Circle Restaurant. If/when we go back, I want to spend more time on Buena Vista Street to soak up more of that atmosphere. It just has a nice, laid back vibe to it. It doesn't hurt that there always seemed to be a nice breeze blowing while we were in those parks...so welcome compared to the Orlando summer!
I consulted our park map and figured we needed to go straight ahead out of the Buena Vista Street area. Even with all the exiting, entering, and hand stamping, it was still only 12:30, so we had plenty of time, but I really don't like being late, so I told Joel we should head toward the restaurant. I figured there might still be a bit of a wait and certainly that the restaurant would be crowded. Still, I stopped at the guest relations information center on our way out of Buena Vista Street to get a return time on Joel's DAS...for...Radiator Springs Racers! As we walked that way, we saw the entrance to Carsland on our left. Photo Op! Step up there Joel. There's a Photopass photographer! The Carsland sign is so cute. Okay, everything about Carsland is cute, but I'm getting ahead of myself. We had our photo made. I glanced across the street and saw the restaurant, right there, Wine Country Trattoria! Yay!!! We had an easy incline up the walkway to the restaurant and found the check-in station. We were still 20 minutes early, but I was quickly assured that that was perfectly fine. We could be seated immediately. In fact, this restaurant was far from crowded. There were available tables all around. I'd say it wasn't more than half full.
We were seated outdoors, under an expansive umbrella, at a nice, tile-topped table. Our server, Matt, was attentive and got our drink order while we perused the menu. Joel knew what he wanted. It was the reason we chose this place. He would have the lasagna. Although the WOC choices are limited, especially for lunch, I still had a little trouble deciding. Finally, I landed on the Potato Gnocchi, the vegetarian option. Normally, I would want something with chicken, or a salad, or chicken on a salad, but something about the description of the salad just didn't sound right to me. I'd probably get it next time, but the Potato Gnocchi turned out to be a good choice. It was not at all heavy. The sauce was creamy and delicious. The pasta shells stuffed with the potato mixture were cooked to perfection. For his part, Joel said the lasagna was the best he'd ever had. The outdoor atmosphere was just delightful on a breezy, warm Southern California afternoon. Everything was almost perfect...almost.
About halfway through the meal, Matt very politely informed us that he was scheduled to take his own lunch break. No problem. I understand that kind of thing. He told us that someone was assigned to take over our table, but that he hoped to be back in time to bring us our dessert, or at the very least our World of Color tickets. Okay. So, he was off for lunch. We enjoyed our meal for several minutes, until we needed drink refills, and no other server had checked on us. I kept looking around at other tables. They were getting refills. Finally, after about 20 minutes I managed to flag down another server to ask who was assigned to us. She said, "I am," Great! Could we get drink refills, please, when you have time? We've been out of drinks for a while. "Sure." Maybe I should have asked differently, because it was about another five minutes before we got those refills. I'm not generally a complainer about service at restaurants, but it's not like the place was overrun with patrons, and all I wanted was a drink refill. I didn't want to eat anymore until I had something to drink! Well, eventually we got our drinks. Matt got back to deliver our dessert sampler plate. Those desserts are really tasty! One of my favorites was the raspberry and pistachio coated macaroons. Yummy! Moist...flavorful... We had a great time sharing those desserts! We even got another drink refill from Matt, as well as our WOC passes.
We left Wine Country Trattoria feeling satisfied but not too full. It was a great feeling. It wasn't quite time for our DAS return time for Radiator Springs Racers, so we opted to visit Carsland and ride Mater's Junkyard Jamboree and Luigi's Flying Tires. These are both really cute attractions. I thought Mater was more fun, but Joel was so over the moon for Carsland in general that he said they were both awesome. The overall atmosphere of Carsland is just spot-on. Fillmore's...Sarge's...Flo's...Ramone's...the Cozy Cone...they are all there, and they just look great. But, of course the crown jewel of Carsland is RSR, and it was finally time to go ride it!!!! Again, it's all there...the Wheel Well area...Monument Valley...just beautiful. We used our return time and proceeded through the Fastpass line. From that point, we probably waited another 15 minutes total.
We approached the loading area and received a yellow car, front seat. I took the "driver's" spot on the left, and Joel was in the middle. These cars are akin to the Test Track cars, two rows, three seats per row, but with Cars theming. You begin by cruising through some curves listening to Cars music, and then around one corner you see the waterfall from the movie scene with Lightning and Sally on their date. After that, you proceed inside to a scene with Mack (almost "colliding"), the Sheriff, and Mater urging you to go tractor tipping, on your way to the indoor Radiator Springs scene. Joel knew this next part, but I didn't. Once to Radiator Springs, there are two possibilities. You might visit Ramone's for a new virtual paint job, or you might go to Luigi's for new tires. This trip, we got Luigi's and came out with "brand new whitewall tires!" (imagine here my best Luigi imitation). The next scene is Doc Hudson, where he tells us that new tires won't win a race. Then, the parallel track (there are two going at once, like on Test Track) car pulls up, and you're off on the race portion of the ride...more curves, hills, and valleys. It...is...AWESOME!!! I just kept saying that over and over after we exited the ride. The ride ends with one more visit from Mater and McQueen telling us that everyone is a winner. Joel and I knew one thing for sure. We HAD to ride this again during our trip...and we would. Before we exited Carsland, Joel wanted to see if he could do a greeting with any of the Cars characters. We found Red, the fire engine, right outside Luigi's Flying Tires. He doesn't speak, but he looks incredibly life-like, and he does honk his horn. Joel posed for a photo. McQueen and Mater weren't out at their Cozy Cone location, so we'd have to try them another time.
So, we had done the basics in Carsland. We set off for Paradise Pier. Joel couldn't wait to ride the Little Mermaid: Ariel's Undersea Adventure. Outside, this ride looks vastly different from it's Orlando counterpart, but inside they are identical. Once inside your clamshell car, the journey is the same. Still, Joel loves this ride in Walt Disney World, and he loved it in Disney California Adventure. Incidentally, while we were in these parks, I never saw the wait time for this ride at more than 10 minutes, but most of the time it was a walk-on.
We could've done more of Paradise Pier, but I kind of wanted to see Aladdin: The Musical, so we checked the show times, chose 3:45, and knew we should probably not get too engrossed in Paradise Pier. We decided to turn around and go back to A Bug's Land, because I knew we could probably hit several attractions there while we waited for Aladdin. Yep! We rode Flik's Flyers, Francis' Ladybug Boogie, and Heimlichs Chew Chew Train. From A Bug's Land, it's a quick few steps to Hollywood Land and the Hyperion Theater. I knew the popularity of Aladdin, so I wanted to allow plenty of time. That turned out to be a good idea. We got into the holding area for mezzanine seating, also a good idea. I recommend this seating, if you can do steps. We were told many times during the more than 30 minutes we waited there that we would be climbing 55 steps. Once the ropes were dropped, we climbed said steps and found available seating on the front row of the mezzanine. This was a great viewing spot for the show, and the show itself is beautiful, and the Genie is hilarious! In this show, he "knocked on" Jafar's staff and sang "Do you want to build a snowman?" Another highlight of this show was Aladdin and Jasmine flying on the carpet above the crowd, as well as the very cute character of "Carpet." Aladdin: The Musical - definitely a must-do.
After Aladdin, Joel really wanted to ride Monster's Inc.: Mike and Sulley to the Rescue, so we did. At this point, when we finished thus ride, it still wasn't even 5:00 PM. Joel commented that he still hadn't ridden Indiana Jones Adventure yet. Really, son? It's the FIRST DAY in the parks. Look at all we've done so far! However, it is extremely handy to have these two parks directly across from each other, in easy walking distance. We still had more than 4 hours until our 9:00 PM World of Color show, so what's the harm in heading back over to Disneyland? Let's do it!
I think that's enough for this installment. I guess next time, I'll finish off Day 1 in the parks.
I can't believe how much you got done in such a short amount of time. You must have been pooped by that time. I know I would have been. I still want to know about Anna and Elsa though. Will that be coming soon (hint, hint )?
Sorry, everyone, to be so long in continuing our tale. What can I say? Life is busy, what with working two jobs and trying to situate everything for Joel to start community college on Tuesday. It's a good thing I kept notes from the trip, to jog my memory. So here we go with the end of Parks Day 1.
We had finished our afternoon at DCA and decided it was a shame we hadn't ridden the Indiana Jones Adventure over at Disneyland, so off we went, across the courtyard and back into the DL park. We soon discovered that we would need a return time for Indy, because it is a very popular ride. Fortunately, one of the guest relations kiosks is at the end of Main Street, just in front of the entrance to Adventureland, where Indy resides. We got our return time, and proceeded on in to Adventureland to hit some other attractions while we waited. We visited Tarzan's Treehouse, which is a very nice re-telling of the Disney Tarzan story, with photos and recreations of relics. They pipe in some of the Tarzan music, which is some of my favorite Disney music. After that stop, Joel wanted to visit the original Haunted Mansion, so for now, we passed by Pirates of the Caribbean and walked the brief distance to the Haunted Mansion. I'll just say that this is a beautiful attraction. The exterior looks much like an old New Orleans mansion, and it's so different from the exterior of its WDW counterpart. Again, I found I enjoyed this one more. Inside, they are very much alike, except as Joel always points out to me, the WDW version has a room with floating staircases, and that doesn't exist at DL. Still, we loved us ride.
After Haunted Mansion, we still had a little time to wait for Indy, so the other good option was Pirates of the Caribbean. In reality, Haunted Mansion, Pirates, and Indy are all within about 150 yards of each other. I am telling you, I loved the close proximity of the attractions at Disneyland. The wait for Pirates was posted at 15 minutes, but really we were in line only about 10. Yet again, this is an attraction that we found superior to the WDW version. First, it's a much longer ride. Second, you travel around the patio of the Blue Bayou restaurant at the beginning. The patio is filled with lanterns and is generally a good setting to begin the ride. Sprinkled throughout the queue were the names of some real and maybe imaginary pirates. And, of course, there's the exterior, New Orleans-style mansion look. The exterior part of the queue winds through what would be the front courtyard of the "house." It's lovely. Also, while waiting here, I noticed that there seemed to be some sort of special suite upstairs in this building. It was marked with an ornate "D", but I wouldn't find out until later that it was Disney's Dream Suite, created as part of the Year of a Million Dreams. It's 2,200 square feet, and for the rest of the trip, I wanted to stay there! It's accessible by stairs or elevator. Take a look at some photos online! You'll want to stay there, too!
Finally, it was time for Indy! Cue the movie music! First, let me say that the queue for this attraction is very long. I was beginning to think we would never get to the end of it. We wound around inside for several minutes, upstairs, downstairs, around and around. It was quite a trek just to get to the loading area. And, this was another attraction queue that I felt was quite narrow, especially considering that it is a more recent addition to Disneyland. Eventually, we arrived at loading, and just as Joel had told me, this ride is similar in ride vehicle and progression to Dinosaur! at Animal Kingdom. The verdict - The Indiana Jones Adventure is awesome. It's high-thrill, fast-paced, rockin' and rollin' throughout, with Indy seeking our help to get through the Temple of the Forbidden Eye. Let's just say, we helped him!
All that adventuring works up an appetite, so we began searching for dinner options. We had eaten a big lunch at Wine Country Trattoria, so all I wanted was something light, like a fruit plate. Joel was up for some chicken, and we found that at the Stage Door Cafe', near Pirates of the Caribbean. The fruit was just through a walkway at another CS place called Bengal Barbecue. If you want mixed fruit, already cut up into chunks, this is your place. I got a very nice mixture of melons, strawberries, and grapes for about $3.50. It really hit the spot. Joel's chicken nuggets and fries was exactly what you would expect. It was a nice portion. He enjoyed it.
Remember, we had our World of Color passes from our lunch, so that evening, we needed to go back again to Disney California Adventure. After dinner, we meandered back to the DL exit to make one last park hop for the day. Once inside DCA, we had a little time before World of Color, but I didn't want to push things and get a bad viewing spot, so we followed the crowd that was very evidently headed toward Paradise Pier. We quickly found our reserved viewing section, presented our Fastpasses to the CM, and were immediately shown to several lined-off options for viewing. We chose the one that had steps, and we were lucky enough to position ourselves on the top step. Our vantage point could not have been better. We were looking almost center "stage" at the projections during the show and had a completely unobstructed view. In fact, the only other people in our lined-off area were a single family of dad, mom, and two boys. We had breathing room! It was absolutely wonderful! The only little issue was that one of the boys was a bit fidgety, and during one of the loud sections of music he flailed around and his arm popped me right in the face, just under my left eye. Ouch!!! He just stared at me, but I said, "You need to be careful!" He never turned in my direction again. For a few minutes, I felt like I had to check for possible swelling. It really did hurt for a bit, but I was okay, and we enjoyed the rest of the show. Before anyone asks, no, his parents never even noticed any of it. They were watching the show, not him.
Speaking of the show, we already knew that we wouldn't get to see the Frozen addition that had been tacked on when at movie premiered last November. Joel does his research, and he had told me I wouldn't get to see Olaf. That aside, the show was a big hit with us. One of our favorite segments was Pirates of the Caribbean, complete with fire effects. We could feel the heat, and yet, we were still getting sprayed with the mist from the fountains at the same time. It was too cool! There's plenty of classic Disney in the show, too, with The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, Brave, a princess montage near the end, The Lion King, and then the Pixar additions of Finding Nemo, Toy Story, and Wall-E, and Up. My only regret, other than wishing I hadn't gotten hit in the face, was that when we left, my naturally wavy hair was an absolute nightmare of tangles and frizz. It was a small price to pay for such a great end to our day.
Day 1 at the parks was absolutely full of fun, adventure, and first-time magic! Back at the hotel, we marveled at all we had accomplished. Thanks, Disneyland, for a magical first day.
Sounds like a wonderful end to your day (other than getting hit in the face). Indiana Jones Adventure is one ride that I would love to try! It wasn't there when I was at DL.
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It wasn't actually as bad as you might imagine. We were coming from the Eastern Time Zone, so we sort of gained three hours traveling to California. It was more like 9:30 Eastern Time, so not so bad when the alarm sounded. Of course, for our first official day at Disneyland, we had no problem getting up and at it! We were both clean and dressed within 40 minutes. I got breakfast ready while Joel showered, so we ate and gathered our stuff for the park. I made sure I got my confirmation number for lunch, since we had our World of Color package that day. How exciting!!!! Actually, everything we needed was pretty much in my cross body bag...camera, wallet with cash, my new iPhone, etc. All Joel carried was his wallet, basically for I.D. purposes. So, once we had our belongings arranged for the day and valuables stashed in the room safe, we set out on our walk 
across the street to Walt's original creation. As part of our Orbitz package, we had a voucher for our 3 day park hoppers with a 4th day free, but of course I had already decided to ask if we could add on the 5th day! By 7:30, I was standing in front of a very nice CM who assured me we could "always upgrade." Within two minutes tops, we had our 5 day hoppers, plus our voucher for our Magic Morning, which I chose for our last park day, the following Tuesday. Now, it was on to the gate and our wait to enter Disneyland at 8:00 A.M.
I know why people want to live in that part of the country! So, as a bonus while we were waiting in the beautiful climate at Pixie Hollow, Peter Pan himself happened by and just posed with the guests near the end of the line, included big fan Joel. He even told Joel that he spotted him when he was crossing the bridge. A few minutes later, Joel met Rosetta, who spoke with a distinctly southern accent, and then on to Tinkerbell. The Photopass photographer told us that Rosetta was from the "south side of Pixie Hollow." How cute! I loved that! Is she really? I have no idea because frankly I am unfamiliar with any pixie lore, but I thought it was an adorable thing to say. So, now the character count was at 5. Onward!
I managed to flag down another server to ask who was assigned to us. She said, "I am," Great! Could we get drink refills, please, when you have time? We've been out of drinks for a while. "Sure." Maybe I should have asked differently, because it was about another five minutes before we got those refills. I'm not generally a complainer about service at restaurants, but it's not like the place was overrun with patrons, and all I wanted was a drink refill. I didn't want to eat anymore until I had something to drink! Well, eventually we got our drinks. Matt got back to deliver our dessert sampler plate. Those desserts are really tasty! One of my favorites was the raspberry and pistachio coated macaroons. Yummy! Moist...flavorful...
We had a great time sharing those desserts! We even got another drink refill from Matt, as well as our WOC passes.
That aside, the show was a big hit with us. One of our favorite segments was Pirates of the Caribbean, complete with fire effects. We could feel the heat, and yet, we were still getting sprayed with the mist from the fountains at the same time. It was too cool! There's plenty of classic Disney in the show, too, with The Little Mermaid, Beauty and the Beast, Pocahontas, Brave, a princess montage near the end, The Lion King, and then the Pixar additions of Finding Nemo, Toy Story, and Wall-E, and Up. My only regret, other than wishing I hadn't gotten hit in the face, was that when we left, my naturally wavy hair was an absolute nightmare of tangles and frizz. It was a small price to pay for such a great end to our day.
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