DopeyGirl goes to Disneyland!!! THREAD 2 --- COMPLETED 8/14 (2 updates) About This Page:

[DopeyGirl]

DAY 3 PART 2 – Disney ---- West Coast style!!!

<font color="red">Those of you that are experienced Disneylanders will have to excuse my sometimes “in-depth” explanation of Disneyland!!! Even though I have been there a few times, it was 11 years since my last trip . . . and I went into my report with the mindset that there are quite a few people on the boards who have never been at all . . . </font>

<font color="blue">Well . . . it was coming up on around 2:30pm-ish and we had seen all that we had intended on seeing in our very short time in the beautiful city of San Diego , so after we had driven across the Coronado Bay Bridge, we made our way to Interstate 5 and headed north. We hit a little bit of road construction and congestion near Del Mar (they were working on the freeways AND the SD County Fair was going on at the Del Mar Fairgrounds/Racetrack!!!) but after that it was smooth sailing all the way to Anaheim. I was able to snag a picture of Angel Stadium . . . oh, excuse me . . . Angel Stadium of Anaheim, the official home of the Los Angeles Angels of Anaheim (Does anyone remember when they were just the plain old California Angels and they played at Anaheim Stadium? What’s up with the dumb name changes?) ANYWAY . . .



As we got into Anaheim and approached the area on I-5 that we would need to be getting off . . . we kind of got into a discussion about which exit it was that we had to take. I don’t know HOW many times I said the words “Disney Way”, but it never fazed Emilie. She just kept on staring out the window, like “Where ARE we?” She didn’t even get it when I took pictures out the window of the Tower of Terror!!! So we took our exit, and as we were Emilie saw an “Adopt-a-Highway” sign that was sponsored by Disneyland . . . she nonchalantly says “Hey, I saw a sign that said Disneyland on it. That’s funny.” STILL not getting the idea, that girl!!! Even when we stopped at the traffic light (or was it a stop sign?) at the top of the exit and we could see the Matterhorn right there to our left, did she get it? NO!!! Truth be told, she didn’t REALLY get the idea until we went down Harbor Boulevard a bit further and she saw the sign over the walkway entrance right by the hotel we were staying at!!! Then it was “WE’RE AT DISNEYLAND!!! OH MY GOODNESS!!! DISNEYLAND AND DISNEY CALIFORNIA ADVENTURE IN CALIFORNIA!!! MOM!!!” (What? You think she doesn’t know about EVERYTHING Disney? ) It was even BETTER than the reaction she had when I surprised her with our girls only trip to WDW last January!!! (Wow . . . how am I going to top that in November? Any ideas? Anyone?)</font>


Tower of Terror from Interstate 5 (and taken while driving about 60 MPH!)


Matterhorn taken while waiting to turn left from our freeway exit!


Entrance plaza into the Disneyland Resort!!!




<font color="blue">We checked into our hotel, the Park Vue Inn, right around 4:30pm. We were in (the VERY tiny) room 109. We unloaded the car and, once we did, there wasn’t too much room to walk around the room . . . ESPECIALLY not with 4 people in there!!! The beds were SUPER hard . . . but you know what? I was at frickin’ Disneyland and I didn’t give a rip!!!



We turned on the TV for a couple of minutes while we looked at the street map to get our bearings (so much has changed over the past few years!) and I brought out the Golden Mickey Ears!!! Emilie has always been interested in reading maps, and this trip, she got WAY into it. She became our little navigator </font>


Emilie and her Poppa (my dad) checking out the first map of the trip!

CONTINUED IN NEXT POST!!!

[DopeyGirl]

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS POST!!!!


<font color="blue">Once we figured out where were, we headed out walking down Harbor Blvd. to McDonald’s to grab a quick bite to eat then headed back and walked across the street to Disneyland property!!! </font>


The sign over the walkway that heads into the Disneyland transportation area and walkway into the parks and DTD!


A map of the Disneyland Resort --- the “Esplanade” that I will mention soon, is that area between the 2 parks

<font color="blue">We had our bags peeked through by DL security, then headed into the Esplanade. The first thing I noticed were the crowds that were lined up to get into Disneyland!!! INSANE!!! It WAS a Friday evening and all, but WOW!!! LONG lines!!! No lines to get into DCA though!!!</font>


Check out this bench!!! I WANT one (whenever I get my own house with a backyard, that is!!! :wink&amp;#61514;


The lines at the turnstiles for DL

<font color="blue">I almost freaked out, I was so excited!!! But I managed to maintain my composure . . . I assure you, though, it was TOUGH!!! We made our way, slowly, through the Esplanade . . . .me, snapping photo after photo after photo . . . then we walked into the Downtown Disney District!!! </font>


World of Disney and part of La Brea Bakery (OMG . . . the bread in there!!! )


Catal Restaurant, looking back to Build-A-Bear Workshop and Department 56 is to the right of the photo behind the 50th banner


DTD entrance to the Grand Californian Hotel


Outside of Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen


House of Blues and Rainforest Café


Monorail pulling into the DTD station

<font color="blue">We mainly just wandered and looked around, but I did happen to pop into WOD for a couple of minutes. It is small (compared to WDW's), and BOY was it CROWDED!!! I found a couple of pins I liked so I bought those and we wandered some more. We played a while in the Lego store, went into Build-A-Bear but it was TOO crowded and we spent a bit of time in Department 56 looking at all the AWESOME snow villages and figurines. If I had lots of money, I tell you, I would have bought a TON in that store!!! The coolest were the London and NYC “villages” all dressed and lit up for Christmas . . . VERY tempting!

Feeling a little “shopped out”, we headed out of DTD and back into the Esplanade. We saw that they were displaying Herbie the Love Bug out there (“Herbie Fully Loaded” was opening the following weekend, I believe) so we popped over there to see him . . . Emilie and my dad “posed” somewhat for a pic with Herbie.



Then it was back to the hotel for a swim!!! Well . . . for Emilie anyway!!! She floated around (with her Nemo arm floaties on) for about 30 minutes of so then got out saying she was “C-c-c-c-c-old!” </font>


Check out the concentration on that little face!!!

<font color="blue">So we went inside so she could take her bath and play hide and seek. Yes, I said hide and seek . . . and in that tiny room, there SURE weren’t too many places to hide!!! We headed up to the breakfast terrace about 9:30 to watch the fireworks (ah, the benefits of staying RIGHT there near the parks!) then retired to the room for the night. While we were watching the news, we heard that just about 3pm that afternoon an LA County Sheriff’s Deputy was shot and killed as a result of gang activity ---- so sad He was just 35, had 2 kids and had just remarried 3 weeks earlier. I just don’t understand some people!!!

We were all pretty much passed out by about 11:30pm . . . we had a BIG day coming up ahead of us!!! </font>

COMING UP NEXT: “Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy”

[dsnytina]

Sarah:
Oh my goodness!
This just keeps getting better and better!
I love the pics of Emilie swimming and trying so hard!
So sad to hear about the sheriff being killed! I know what you mean about not understanding people sometimes!
Hope to read more soon!
We've got to get those WDW folks over here!!!
Tina

[KrisLuvsDisney]

Oh Sarah I love all the photos! I haven't been to Disneyland in so long it was good to see all the changes! Emilie looked just precious in her floaties! More please!

[SHEANA1226]

Love the pics Sarah! Emilie is so cute!!

[DawnDenise]

Another great update Sarah!! Emilie is just so cute! I love that red dress she is in. I can't wait for your next installment! Seeing all of your wonderful pictures just makes me even more excited for my trip in February.

[Dee161]

Wow, Sarah. What great pictures. I have never been to DL and am enjoying your TR so much. Emilie is such a cutie. can't wait to read more.

[Cam22]

Thanks Sarah for all the details. I have NEVER been to Disneyland. Hopefully, we will get there some day, but it's looking like 2006 or 2007 before that happens. Your pictures are terrific and Emilie is such a doll!

[lauren-roxy]

Great update Sarah!! I have never been to Disneyland so I really appreciate all the details and all the awesome pictures!! Can't wait for more!!!

[DopeyGirl]

[b]<font color="red">I will be adding the rest of this sometime later today (Friday) Stay tuned!!! But here's part 1 in the meantime!!! </font>


DAY 4 PART 1 – June 25, 2005 -- “Here you leave today and enter the world of yesterday, tomorrow and fantasy”

<font color="blue">We got up at . . . YUP . . . 7:30am (it was the “magic time” this trip) . . . and headed up to the breakfast terrace. Man . . . the donuts there just tasted funky and the selection wasn’t too good. They offered things like bread, mini muffins, pastries, fruit, coffee and water as complimentary breakfast items, but if you wanted something like cereal, yogurt, or even MILK, you had to pay for it. Mom and Dad remarked, when we found out about having to pay for the other stuff, that they were so disappointed that we weren’t able to get a ressie at Carousel Inn &amp; Suites, as that is the place they “swear by” now when they visit Disneyland! Emilie had a YELLOW banana . . . (Holiday Inn Express Sea World/San Diego and the Park Vue Inn should really trade breakfast ideas! HI Express could teach Park Vue about SELECTION and COMPLIMENTARY food and Park Vue could teach HI Express about RIPE FRUIT!!! ) ANYHOW . . . where the heck was I?

Ah, YES!!! Breakfast was plain . . . toast for me and a bite of a donut that I threw away. Mom loaded up on coffee. Dad on blueberry mini-muffins and Emilie on a banana . . . I stashed a banana in my bag for later in the day! Once we had fed our faces, we headed downstairs and out to the crosswalk that led us into the DL transportation area!!! HOLY COW!!! After 11 long years, I was FINALLY going back to Disneyland FOR REAL!!! I was 17 the last time I was there, for heaven’s sake!!! One thing I noticed as we were going through the turnstiles (with nearly no line in front of us) was that you weren’t being allowed to stick your ticket in the reader yourself. We were told to hand the tickets to the CM there and then they stuck them in. I am so used to WDW where I do my ticket myself!!! Not a biggie though!!! I was inside the confines of the ORIGINAL Happiest Place on Earth and I was feeling like a 5 year old!!!
We were inside the park at 8:45am (the park had opened at 8am) . . . we stopped and took the obligatory “In front of the train station” photos . . . (one of which made me look like a total toad!!!)



As we were heading under the train station and into Main Street USA, I noticed the sign above the archway . . .



We took a quick look down Main Street . . .



. . . then headed up to the train station and one was just getting ready to leave, so we had about a 5 minute wait until the next train came. So I took a few pictures while we waited . . . naturally!



We rode to the first stop, which was New Orleans Square, and hopped off there. </font>


Haunted Mansion ---- in New Orleans Square (a walk on, but we skipped it, since Emilie said she was scared!)


Splash Mountain ---- in Critter Country (the wait was already at 60 minutes at 9am!)

<font color="blue">Our first mission of the day, according to Miss Navigator, was The Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh in Critter Country. It was so sad to see the Country Bears gone (Pooh replaced the Bears a few years ago), but Pooh is really such a cute ride. The one at DL is slightly different from the one at WDW . . . for instance, you don’t bounce with Tigger . We walked right on, so we were happy! </font>


One of the Hunny Pot ride vehicles

<font color="blue">After Pooh, we decided that maybe we needed to come up with a sort of game plan for the rest of the morning. But, Emilie spotted our Hundred Acre Wood friends and wanted to visit with them first. They were headed in for a break as we walked over towards them and everyone cleared the area. We stayed there . . . I’m not silly!!! We sat down and looked at the map while waited . . . big shocker . . .



Then Pooh came out and “talked” with Emilie for a while . . . OK, so he really just listened to her chatter on and on about who knows what, but he still gave her attention for a while!



We hung out a bit longer and waited to see if any of the other “friends” came out . . . and all of a sudden we saw a gray nose come peeking out from around the fence . . . </font>


Eeyore playing peek-a-boo with Emilie

<font color="blue">Eeyore was very reluctant to come out from behind the fence. We assured him that it was alright to come out and Emilie told him not to be scared. He just shook his head and hid . . . then he finally came out from behind the fence . . . and pulled Rabbit along with him!!!



Next we wandered through along the Rivers of America through New Orleans Square and over to Pirates of the Caribbean!!! HOLY COW!!! I am totally sorry, but the Pirates at DL is 40 times better than the one at WDW!!! Not only is it longer and there’s 2 drops, but I got wet too!!! Emilie said she was scared, but I am not buying it! We only had to wait 10 minutes, so that was good!!! </font>



<font color="red">Stand by for angry rant!!!</font> <font color="blue">We had a little “missing stroller” problem when we came out of Pirates!!! I had parked it amongst a mass of strollers then got in line, thinking it MIGHT get moved because there was a CM out moving strollers around. So we go through the ride, have a great time, then get off. I go around to get the stroller, going to the spot I left it . . . the strollers that were all around it were still there, but mine was missing!!! So I went over to check to see if it got moved for some reason and it WASN’T with the others . . . so I am getting a little on the grouchy side and thinking “If I see someone with my stroller, it may not be pretty!!!” I started walking up the hill towards Tarzan’s Treehouse and Indiana Jones and just happen to look down and to the left as a man was passing me and what do I see him pushing?! MY STROLLER!!! Complete with the net bag I had attached to it (with my park maps inside) and a NAMETAG I attached hanging from it!!! He kept on walking and I turned around and caught up with him, saying “Excuse me, sir?” He IGNORED me!!! So I tapped him on the shoulder (and not lightly, mind you!) and said “EXCUSE me, sir . . . that is MY stroller you have there.” He tried to argue that it was his and was getting rather snippy with me!!! So I asked him “So is your name Sarah? He looked at me like I was from another planet, but still wasn’t giving up the stroller!!! I told him again that it was mine, that my park maps were in the net bag on the back and that that was MY name on the name tag hanging right where his hand was. Finally, his wife came up from the area where the CM had moved some of the strollers to and said “Where’d you get that one? This one’s ours.” Then asked me “Can I HELP you?” and I said, as snottily as I could “You could give me back my *&amp;^$%#! stroller now.” And walked off . . . I really tried not to be too nasty, but the guy absolutely REFUSED to give me my stroller and it REALLY made me angry. And neither of them admitted they made a mistake or apologized for the inconvenience or their attitudes . . . so they deserved the nasty word . . . their little one was asleep, but I still felt bad saying what I said!

Well, I needed something to cool myself off . . . and Emilie made an excellent suggestion when she yelled out “TIKI ROOM!!!” What better than seeing the ORIGINAL Enchanted Tiki Room to make you feel better? The doors were about to close and there were just 3 seats left so we all 4 went in and mom and dad sat in one section while Emilie sat on my lap in the front row of another section. I SO miss the original Tiki Room at WDW . . . I like Iago and Zazu (sometimes) but NOT in the Tiki Room!!!

After “singing like the birdies sing . . . tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet-tweet . . . “ we headed into the central Plaza since I was determined to get a photo of Emilie and I with Sleeping Beauty Castle and the Partners statue. There were a few groups taking photos so we waited until they cleared out (by getting drinks and a bucket of popcorn ) then when no one was up there, we sat down. I can’t believe how INCREDIBLY inconsiderate some people are!!! A TON of people, who saw that we were trying to have a picture taken, walked right between the camera and us. Mom took a few photos that we ended up deleting due to people in the middle of the shot . . . and THIS is the best shot she could get . . . note my sour face (I called quite a few people jacka**es . . . “We’re taking PICTURES people!”)



As we were getting ready to head through the castle and into Fantasyland, a voice came over the PA system . . . Mickey was climbing the Matterhorn!!! He climbed (with the moral support of Minnie and the crazy antics of Goofy) to the top and planted a 50th anniversary flag at the summit!!!</font>


The Queen of Hearts, Tweedle Dee, Alice, the Mad Hatter and Tweedle Dum watched and applauded Mickey as he climbed!!!


Sleeping Beauty Castle ---- ain’t she purty?


CONTINUED IN NEXT POST!!!!

[DopeyGirl]

CONTINUED FROM PREVIOUS POST!!!!!


<font color="blue">Into Fantasyland we headed!!! We wandered around a bit first, then queued up for Mad Tea Party . . . OK, so it was more like, we walked into the queue area and straight into a tea cup!!!</font>


Mad Tea Party

<font color="blue">Next up was Peter Pan’s Flight . . . we had a very SHORT 20 minute wait!!! Since I am so used to 45 minute waits or more (and FP’s) for Peter Pan, I thought 20 minutes was GREAT! Mom and Dad rode in one pirate ship and Emilie and I in another. After we flew over London, we headed over to King Arthur Carrousel. Emilie rode with my dad . . .



Then it was on to MR. TOAD’S WILD RIDE!!! Now . . . I have this weird thought about Mr. Toad. Maybe it’s just me, but does anyone else find the whole storyline of the ride to be a little . . . um . . . grown-up? Don’t get me wrong . . . I absolutely LOVE the ride, I do!!! I just think it is kind of a funny storyline!!! Mr. Toad drives his car all wacky (through his house, no less!), gets in trouble with the law, goes to court and gets sent to Hades!!! It’s a good lesson for adults – even if kids don’t get it!!! Speaking of Hades, since the rest of the ride was air conditioned and cool, when we drove into the “hot part” (as Emilie called it), my glasses fogged up completely and I couldn’t see a darn thing!!! I started to un-fog as we got off of the ride . . . same thing happened to my dad!!!



We ran over to check the wait time on Dumbo . . . it was at 45 minutes, as usual. So we headed back and watched the Sword in the Stone thing then headed over to ride Pinocchio’s Daring Journey, which was a walk on.



Emilie vetoed Snow White afterwards, much to my dismay! No Dopey for me . . . So we headed off towards It’s a Small World!!! There was a 25 minute wait . . . and, mind you, it is completely out in the sun (with the exception of a few bushes along the queue closer to the boarding area) . . . so I am near positive that this is where I got my very BAD hairline sunburn on my forehead!!! (Which REALLY hurt . . . but went tan and never peeled, so that made me happy!)



After IASW, we headed into Tomorrowland and Emilie and I grabbed a table in the shade at “Club Buzz – Lightyears Above the Rest”, while Mom and Dad went and ordered us food from the Star Command side of the place. (It’s a counter service place . . . 2 different menus: Star Command and Flight Command.) Dad had a Double Star-Broiled Cheeseburger, while I went with a single , mom had a grilled chicken sandwich and Emilie had a kids meal with Mickey shaped chicken nuggets!!! It came in a cool little lunch box and it had a color changing straw with the drink!!! Altogether, with drinks, lunch came to somewhere around $35 for the 4 of us. After we’d eaten (and were feeling like some kind of prey that was being stalked by a hawk ) we gave up our table to these people who stood behind us for about 10 minutes waiting for us to get up. Still in “Buzz” mode, we headed around to the other side and queued up for Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters!!! The great thing about Buzz at DL is that you don’t have to pay for the ride photo!!! When you get off of the ride, you make your way to the computers, look up your photo and can e-mail it to yourself (or anyone else you want to send it to!)</font>


Mom and Dad fighting the Evil Emperor Zurg . . . and Emilie and I following suit! Although, you can’t even see Emilie in the car!!!

<font color="blue">After Buzz, we headed across the way and measured Emilie for Star Tours . . . she was JUST scraping the stick and they said she was too short. Talk about heartbreak!!! Not only was I sad but so was Shorty . . .I mean, Emilie . . . who has been waiting to go on Star Tours since she was denied at WDW in March!!! I SWEAR she WILL ride in November!!!

After coming to grips with the fact that Emilie was short we headed back into Fantasyland . . . and to Alice in Wonderland!!! Would you believe that I am 28 years old, been to DL a handful of times now and had NEVER ridden Alice in Wonderland?! CRAZY!!! It was a pretty calm little ride down the rabbit hole and back out again . . . </font>


Our pink caterpillar ride vehicle, just as it was pulling up for us to board!

<font color="blue">It was coming up on about 4:00 by the time we got off of the ride and mom and dad wanted to head over to the other park, so we headed out the front gate and across the Esplanade to Disney’s California Adventure!!!</font>


COMING UP NEXT: DAY 4 PART 2 – Welcome to California!!! . . . and Block Party Bash!!!

[TroianRae]

Wow, Sarah, it sounds like you had a great time, with the exception of some really rude people. I always swear that the REALLY rude people are the ones that are always following me around at WDW!!

[Colexis Mom]

Great updates Sarah Love all the pictures

More please

[KrisLuvsDisney]

Sarah, love the update and all those wonderful pictures! I can't believe that guy REFUSED to give you back YOUR stroller! What a frickin jerk!

Ready for the next installment!

[gwugirl03]

Sarah, great trip report! I have never been to DL, so the details are appreciated! Keep them coming!