PDA

View Full Version : dznygrl73 - Gonzales Family Grad for DS: 6/23-6/27 Anaheim Hilton



dznygrl73
06-27-2008, 05:34 PM
Travel dates:6/23-6/27
Travel method:Driving
Resort:Anaheim Hilton
Accommodations:2 rooms
Ages Represented in Group:dw 35, dh 39, ds 17, da 64, dg 62, dn 26
Disney Resort Experience Represented in Group:Disney professionals, Da 64, Dg 62 moderate
Comments:Celebration of Ds Graduation!!
Cast of characters:Karin (me) dw, Johnny dh, Johnny Jr. DS, Gloria da(disney aunt) Kathy dg (disney grandma) Natalie dn (disney niece)


6/23/08
Left home around 8:40am from the Bay Area. Drive went well made the trip with 1 full tank of gas---whew gas light went on right as we exited Ball Rd. Ugghh. We got off on alternate exit due to dh using his handy dandy internet on his phone to search for the best gas price in the area. Put another $15 dollars for around town. Headed to Anaheim Hilton that I got for $50/night via priceline.com with the great advice of Nic01002 (thanks). Hotel was really nice kind of overwhelming considering we usually stay at the small hotels along S.Harbor. We were attacked from all the Valet's, Bell hops etc. Not used to getting such great customer services and help with luggage, etc. Only problem was I wasn't familiar with the whole tipping etiquette. I did my best so sorry to all those great and eager Hilton employees, hopefully I will do better next time. The rooms were nice and they accomidated my DA with her diabetes and gave us a complimentary fridge for their room. Bascially we rested from the drive that day. Later that evening dh,ds, dn, and myself headed to downtown disney get started in the mood for our short trip. Just took in the mood and enjoyed the nice warm evening.

6/24/08
Headed to the DL via the ART system, 1st time users. Ok experience, I still prefer to be accross the street. Arrived at the park headed to PP first of course, but then noticed people in the area with dream fp, so we followed some other people to the side of the castle where they were being given out but we were too late they were all gone:crying: so turned back to pp and were suprised to see Pinnochio, Wendy, & Peter Pan walking around but we didn't want to get out of line, next we headed over to Nemo, dg loved it. Her first time on it. Grabbed FP for SM, went to Buzz and found a hidden Mickey in the line cool... It was starting to get kind of warm so we took da to see Honey I shrunk the audience she was pleasantly suprised, actually so was I since it was the most lively Audience in long time for that show. Had to grab a dole whip...mmmm yummy can't miss that. Next was BTMRR, we kind of tricked da and told her she went on that with us last time but actually we remembered as we were in line that she didn't go on. Well after the ride she said she will never do that again... oops... Potc was next on the list of rides but the line was huge, therefore we headed over to HM and that is where I think I might have seen matterhorn yodeler, next we grabbed a bite at the Stagedoor cafe. DA and DG headed back to the hotel to rest a bit. After lunch dh,ds,dn, and myself headed to DCA to try out Toy Story Mania. We only waited about 50minutes. Well worth it!! That was the most exciting ride. Absolutely loved it....:fez: then we went back to the hotel, I guess the excitement was too much for us.... lol just kidding. We all took the ART back to the resort but were not very happy that it took almost a whole hour to come and pick us up and after all the "overflow P/U's" was about 1&1/2 hours.. would have been better to walk but that was kind of hard on dg & da so we just grinned and beared it. Returned to DCA and got some pasta at Pizza Ooh Mow Mow. Rode the Sunwheel moving gondula's super crazy ride.... I was sure it was gonna flip over.....of course it didn't.. he he. We walked around a bit but it was really crowded and it was time for the park to close and the big rush back dl began.. We opted to return to the hotel with dg & da. However ds & dn the youngsters headed back to dl and rode sm with the fp we picked up that am... since I found out from some fp advice that you can use FP after they expired.... worked smoothly. Day #2 6/25/08 will follow very soon.......

gyalin
06-28-2008, 10:04 PM
[COUNTDOWN= to our disney's halloween time

gyalin
06-28-2008, 10:31 PM
Sounds great waiting for part 2 hope to hear from u soon

dznygrl73
06-29-2008, 07:46 AM
Thank you, it is coming soon.....lol

dznygrl73
06-29-2008, 03:14 PM
6/25/08

This morning we decided to head to DCA to get on TSM first thing. We also decided to drive into the park rather than using the ART after the delays we had yesterday.. We went with our plan, once in the park we grabbed fp's for Soarin then fp's for GRR since we now know that GRR is not part of the FP system. We were very happy :D however that changed once we got over to the boardwalk to tsm to see that everyone else in the world had the same idea. The sign said the wait time was 180minutes... yeah that is correct 3 hours.. no way :eek: The ride was the best but not willing to give up 3 hours of our day to stand in line. Dn, Ds, and myself jumped in the not too long line of Screamin and had a blast. Next we took everyone to the Mission Tortilla Factory and got our fresh tortilla. Now we headed to Hollywood back lot and p/u fp's for HTH. Before getting into line for the Aladdin show we headed for a quick ride on Monsters Inc. DA and DG loved it, their first time. Now we fell into line for Aladdin. Absolutely the best. I always try to tell all my friends they cannot go to Disneyland w/out seeing this show and so many never seem to find time.. They just don't understand how amazing it is.... oh well someday they will find out what they have missed. Now it was time to eat, so everyone grabbed something different and we all met up at Pizza Ooh Mow Mow for a nice table in the air conditioning. :p AAAHHHH that was nice. DG and DA were ready to head back to the hotel for some rest but I insisted they utilize the FP for Soarin first and they were sure happy they did. DA loved it even though it took a little work getting her to trust us after the BTMRR incident on the day before. But she was glad she went on, ended up being her favorite. DA and DG headed out, ds, dn and myself headed over to the HTH and used our fp's....:fez: I love that ride..... different everytime. Now it was time to show dn who is a veteran but never saw Turtle Talk with crush, what a great show she was missing. Crush was so funny today, he explaine the very complex theory of how when Mama turtles burries her eggs in warm sand they hatch girl turtles and when she burries her eggs in cold sand they hatch boy turtles and that is why boys are soooo cool and girls are totally hot... :) Now it was time to go back to Disneyland before the night mad rush over there happens. Once in the Disneyland it was bout 5pm and we used the restrooms over by the Carnation Cafe, we noticed it was empty and my dh notices someones large glass of Ice Tea and once we found out there were free refills it was unanimous. Let's try it, especially since my very best disney friend tried it on her last trip for breakfast and told me to make sure I try it as well. I love Disneyland no matter how many times you go, you always discover something new you haven't experienced. Plus I had read many trip reports about their famous loaded baked potato soup. Anyhoo, dn and myself got the 1/2 sandwich with cup of soup of course I got the Loaded Potato soup.... the best. DH got sliced roast beef sandwich on toasted sourdough with fresh fruit. My ds got a big bowl of potato soup... mmm yummy not disappointed at all. We really enjoyed the mood and food ( didn't taste like amusement park food) I must give kudos to Kay our waitress, she was a sweetie and gave us some disney tips that are always nice. She also gave us a recipe of the Baked Potato Soup... can't wait to make it. Now it was time to ride a disney classic the Jungle Cruise, as corny as it can be our captain Johnny was hilarious. He kept me laughing. We headed to POTC , then HM......I remembered my dear disney friend said her 3 year old son wanted me to go on the Winnie the pooh ride to hear the Elephant make a funny noise right at the part when Pooh falls into his dream.... most of you should know what I am talking about. :rolleyes: Now it was time to meet up with DA and DG at the New Orleans train station, as we waited for them to arrive we got to enjoy the Jazz band and get some Mardi Gras beads..... they are awesome. Now with everyone present we had to go one more time on POTC....that ride is such a tradition. Last minute we decided to see the early show of Fantasmic since DA had never seen it. We got kind of a side view since it was kind of a last minute decision to catch this show instead of the 2nd show but it was ok. DA loved it... I don't care how many times I see that show I get all happy at the end when Mickey conquers evil and when the ship comes with all the characters I get all giddy like a little kid again.....:D:D DA and DG headed back to call it a night, therefore dn,ds and myself headed for what ended up being the last ride of our trip to BTMRR gotta go for a night ride... we had an extra plus since we got to watch the fireworks while in line. But let me say that had to be one of the wildest rides to date on BTMRR for me that I can remember..... sooo fun... We headed to Main Street then went to the Main Street station to see if we could get a ride on the Lilly Belle but the conductor said she hadn't been out for about a week now..:( A little disappointed but still happy with our day and trip.... Time to call it a night so we could pack and have everything ready so we could sneak a trip to World of Disney for some needed shopping before heading home in the morning.....
Thanks for reading

Matterhorn Yodeler
06-30-2008, 12:39 PM
Enjoyed your trip report! It was exciting to see some of the "backstage" at the Haunted Mansion when I was with our guide dog puppy. We stayed on the "doom buggy" after the exit to off-load at the loading station. Then we walked behind the windows in the hallway which have the lightening. Finally we went UP in the stretching room!

Glad you had a good time!:)

adriennek
07-04-2008, 09:44 PM
May I offer a friendly suggestion? Day 2 is a rather long read without paragraph breaks. Longer sections are much easier to read with regular paragraph breaks! Thanks!

Adrienne

Malcon10t
07-04-2008, 09:52 PM
Finally we went UP in the stretching room!

Glad you had a good time!:)Just wanted to let you know, make sure you look up going up the stretching room when it is in Nightmare Before Christmas mode!!!

Matterhorn Yodeler
07-09-2008, 11:19 AM
Just wanted to let you know, make sure you look up going up the stretching room when it is in Nightmare Before Christmas mode!!!

Okay...you got my attention...do you want to share or should it be a surprise?:eek:

anniedg
07-09-2008, 03:54 PM
We had the same experience with TSMM, the line was actually longer at the start of the day. It is fun though isn't it?


Sounds like a fun trip!

dznygrl73
07-09-2008, 08:41 PM
I most definately know what happens in the Holiday Mansion Stretching Room.... Gotta Love it, Actually the Holiday Haunted Mansion is my favorite way. Yes TSMM is the best..... worth the wait! Maybe not 3 hours but definately worth an hour.....:)

ellisfamily
07-10-2008, 07:25 AM
OMG! I am going to Die if the wait for TSM is that long when we go! I think we are going back in DEC, so maybe I will just not even try on the October trip!

dznygrl73
07-11-2008, 07:02 AM
seems the longest crazy wait is first thing in the morning. When we went to DCA at opening, we grabbed a fp for soarin then one for Grizzly. We headed straight to the boardwalk and it was a zoo. But the day prior we went in the mid afternoon that is when the wait was 50-60 minutes. Well worth that. If in October you are there at least a few days kind of get a feel of the different wait times at different times of the day.. I am sure you will get a chance, it is really a fun ride for all.....We were all adults and were excited like little kids when we got off. Have you gone in October before? This next trip will be our first October "Halloween" trip, we usually do November but our AP's expire begining of November......