Travel dates: July 26-August 3 (Disneyland dates July 28-August 1)
Travel method: van via I-5 down and back.
Resort: Tropicana Inn
Accommodations: 3 standard rooms (1-mom/dad, 1-aunt/cousin, 1-me/sister)
Ages Represented in Group: 25-56
Disney Resort Experience Represented in Group: all veterans
Comments: Best trip ever! Also, my cousin, who works for 911 dispatch had just won a food drive with her whole department at work. Their prize was a canned ham trophy named “Hammy”. Hammy had gone on vacation with several of her coworkers, so she had to take him to D-Land with her for some great pictures. So, if any of the CMs reading this happen to recall a strange group of people with a canned ham trophy, that was us…!

Cast of characters: Foodie, Sister, Mom, Dad, Aunt, Cousin

Day One: Car
Me, and my immediate family drove off from Seattle at about 5:30am on Friday morning. Nothing too interesting about driving down I-5. Dad drove the van at the speed limit which helped us save gas and ultimately money. Took a little longer, but it was good to save money. We stayed in a small town called Anderson, CA that night. It was super smoky because of the forest fires. It was really crazy how bad it was.

Day Two: Car, ending up in Anaheim
Again nothing too interesting, though we did stop in Santa Nella at the Anderson Pea Soup restaurant which is a totally awesome tourist trap. I have to go to one truly tacky tourist trap along the way to Disneyland, and this was it. So worth the stop! The restaurant has a gift shop-nuff said.

We ended up arriving in Anaheim about 7:30pm. We unpacked at the Tropicana and walked over to Mimi’s for dinner. I’d read such good things about this place and it did not disappoint. I got the Cajun-blackened salmon with roasted baby potatoes. So delicious! I was very impressed, loved the décor, and will try to go again on my next trip if possible.

After dinner, my sister went back to the hotel (she has problems with migraines and can’t be out too long after dark, the light hurts her eyes and triggers the headaches). My mom, dad, and I went into Downtown Disney to walk around. We went all the way through to the Disney hotels which I’ve never seen before, so that was very cool to walk around and see new things. We were all really wobbly from being in the car for the last two days. It’s sort of like being on a boat and then being back on land again.

Returned to the hotel and tried to go to sleep, but had trouble due to the caffeinated soda I’d had at dinner. Finally made it to sleep sometime after midnight, and slept till almost 10am.

Day Three: Downtown Disney
Woke up feeling much less wobbly. I ate leftovers from dinner the night before for breakfast, something I tried to do a lot. I found it helped save money and buy me time in the mornings. I’m hypoglycemic so I have to eat pretty much as soon as I get up each day.

Headed into DTD again and could feel the humidity. Nothing like last trip, but more like Seattle levels of humidity, definitely doable. The temperature never reached more than the mid to upper 80’s the entire trip. We stopped in at World of Disney and picked up my birthday pin which I wore for the first three days of the trip. Boy was that thing like gold! I can’t believe how many people noticed it, it’s amazing!

My Aunt and cousin flew in from Seattle that morning and we met up with them just before noon. We went to Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen Express for lunch. I had the pulled pork sandwich, very good. Ate half and saved half for breakfast the next day. I brought a leftover container to take with me and it came in very handy during the trip.

After lunch we continued on our walk through DTD. Finally found the entrance to the GCH and went inside. It’s weird, you go in and you can automatically feel the class difference between my group of middle-class folks, and the patrons of this hotel. I had this sense of not belonging there, but really found it beautiful. I found the restaurants at the hotel, as well as White Water Snacks, which looks cool on the inside and actually affordable.

Later that afternoon, we went to the Build-A-Bear workshop and made teddy bears. I was surprised that by being careful in which choices you make, it’s actually not too expensive. I made a bear with clothing and it only came to $23.

After a break in the hotel room, I returned to DTD for a snack of a Wetzel’s pretzel and orange juice from Jamba juice. Always a delicious choice!

Later that night, we went out to the Rainforest Café. We sat outside to avoid the flashing, and it got pretty cold that evening. We had a lot of fun eating, talking, and laughing. We got the brownie/ice cream volcano dessert and our server made me stand up while they sang to me because it was my birthday the next day. It was crazy fun.

More to come tomorrow!:D

Next Two Days:

Day Four: Disneyland
My birthday! Each morning started off overcast, but it burned off faster and faster each day. The crowd was definitely much less than I’ve been accustomed to in the summer months, which I did not mind.

We started off trying to get onto Splash Mountain but it was still closed, so we did Indy instead. I find some of the attractions are too loud, so I brought cotton balls for my ears and it did wonders. The ride was much more enjoyable because of them. The first morning we managed to do Indy, Splash, Pirates, Haunted Mansion, and Winnie the Pooh before breakfast. I left my family to do breakfast on my own at the Riverbelle Terrace. I got the Mark Twain, always tasty.

Met back up with my family and did the Pinocchio ride in Fantasy Land, and saw the Sword in the Stone ceremony. I went off and watched the Jedi Knight training in Tomorrow Land. Very cute and fun, though I can see how some of the younger children could be terrified of it. Did Redd Rocket’s Pizza Port around 2pm for lunch. Got the children’s spaghetti. It was cute, came with apples, carrots, and a Wall-E toy. We all found it really good to use the children’s menu to help save money. Sometimes it was a really great deal.

Our party broke up and did other things for the afternoon. I randomly met up with my aunt and cousin in NOS, while listening to a band playing music. We ended up sitting on a ledge under trees in the shade when a CM approached us and started chatting with us for a long time. After about ten minutes of chatting he asked us if we’d seen Fantasmic! before. We said yes and he asked if we’d like to see it from a special seating area. He then told us he was part of the Dream Team that gives out the Million Dreams. We’d been chosen! And through an even crazier stroke of luck, my mom, dad, and sister had been stopped by another member of the Dream Team and given the exact same dream! We were able to pass on one of the dreams to another family which was a lot of fun to watch happen. This is apparently pretty rare, because the Dream Team members talked about it afterwards that night, and they’d never heard of anything like this happening before. We found that out because my parents ran into the woman who gave them their dream the next day and got to chatting with her again.

Before Fantasmic! that night, we went to see the pirates on TSI. My sister had gotten me one of those cards that plays music when you open it, and it had Captain Jack Sparrow and Will Turner on it and played the POTC music. I was determined to get Jack Sparrow to sign my card. We got our maps to the island and made our way around to the meet and greet area for Jack Sparrow. He wasn’t there at the time so my family went off to continue exploring the island. I stayed behind because it was really hot, so I was drinking water and lounging on a bench when Jack Sparrow and his handlers came back. I was hot and shaky and nervous but I walked up to him and asked him to sign my card. He made a big production of being outraged when he saw Will Turner on it and I sympathized with him. He was amused at the music the card played and showed it off to his handlers. He signed my card and then stole my cell phone and backpack as payment. He added it to his mound of treasure. Don’t worry, I stole it back after a few minutes. I called my family and they joined me. My sister had him sign her map and then we followed Jack Sparrow around as he walked to one of the docks and called out to the Columbia as it passed by. Jack is so compelling to watch, you just can’t help look at him whenever he’s out.

Once we left the island, my sister, cousin, and I stopped at the Bengal BBQ for a snack before checking out the Flag Folding ceremony on Main Street on our way back to the hotel for a couple hours.

We did the Plaza Inn for dinner and boy does that restaurant need a remodeling. The flow is totally messed up, and you have to re-cross lines to get to the check-out place. It’s totally confusing and very poorly done. The fried chicken was great though, and I ended up with a piece leftover for breakfast the next day.

We did Buzz Lightyear’s Astro Blasters after the meal. It was my first time doing it and I really enjoyed it. Then it was on to Frontier Land for Fantasmic! Boy was it fun. The seats were great, the view was awesome, and even though I’ve seen it many times before, I think this was the best one I’ve seen. We were told that we could stay afterwards to watch the fireworks from there, so we did, and it did not disappoint. They pipe in the music and have lasers coming from TSI, and the angle is perfect to see the fireworks.

Totally amazing experience. It was great to be picked for the Million Dreams! After hearing other people say how they never saw the team handing out prizes, I assumed I had no chance, but I was wrong! It was the best birthday I’ve ever had in my life.

Day Five: DCA
The day started in D-Land, we used our Magic Morning entry to get in an hour early. I tried the Matterhorn finally for the first time, but I didn’t like it that much. It was too stressful to sit in the bobsled and slide around in it, wondering if I was going to hurtle to my doom…I kept feeling like I was going to slide out of my seatbelt. We did all the other Fantasy Land rides after that though, always fun. Did Peter Pan the one and only time during the trip, it’s always way too busy any other time to do it.

Just around 10am and after one coffee stop at the Blue Ribbon Bakery, we all headed over to DCA. My sister, aunt, and cousin all headed over to do Screamin’ and my mom, dad, and I watched. We checked out the line for Toy Story Mania but it was way too long. After they did Screamin’, we walked around Paradise Pier for a while, just looking at all there was to see. My mom, cousin, aunt, and I all did the Maliboomer. It was the first time for me and my mom and it was awesome! My mom was too scared of it though so we never tried Tower of Terror, though my aunt and cousin did.

We were in the area with the façade of row houses between Paradise Pier and the Redwood Creek area when the earthquake hit. I was standing under a tree, on the metal grates surrounding the dirt, just minding my own business, when I noticed the grates were squealing and moving and that I was lurching back and forth. I threw my arms around the tree until the shaking stopped and then we all started walking around and watching as CMs emerged out of nowhere and started running around. It was lunchtime and since all the rides had shut down, we went over to Pacific Wharf Café for lunch to pass the time. I’d never eaten there and boy was the food great. I got the shrimp salad in the bread bowl. I was surprised at how much shrimp came in the salad. It was well worth the money. The earthquake was all the talk that afternoon. My family spent a lot of time trying to get through to family back home to tell them the excitement, but the lines were busy for a lot of the time.

After eating we just wandered around since all the rides were still closed. We ended up in the Hollywood Backlot, in Off the Page, the only place we could go inside that wasn’t still shut down. We ended up chatting with one of the CMs for a while, helping pass the time. It’s always fascinating the things you can learn from the CMs when you just stop and talk with them for a while.

Later that afternoon, we did Turtle Talk with Crush, once the Animation Studio opened up again. I’d never gone to it before, it was very cute. Crush talked to a kid who was probably two years old and barely made any sense. It was really fun to see Crush interacting with the kid.

I left for the hotel after that and stayed till around 6pm. I caved and bought a day’s worth of internet so I could log into this site and see if anybody else was talking about the earthquake. It was all over the TV; apparently it was a slow news day.

I returned to D-Land that evening and we all went to Rancho del Zocalo for dinner. It was my first time eating there and I got the chicken tacos without cheese and sour cream(I’m lactose intolerant). They were pretty good, though a little too spicy for my tastes. It might have been better with the cheese and sour cream to help cut the spice, but I’ll never know…

After dinner, we went back to DCA and used the fast passes we’d gotten just before the earthquake, to go on Grizzly River Rapids. I’d never done it before, and really enjoyed it for the most part, except for that very last part after the last big drop. All it did was spin, and it made me totally dizzy. My sister got really sick and ended up leaving for the night.

My parents and I did the Boudin Bakery and Mission Tortilla tours. I made sure to get my free tortillas for my birthday. My aunt and cousin went off to do the character drawing at the Animation Studio, but we all met up again by the Trattoria restaurant just in time for the Electrical Parade. My aunt and cousin had never seen it before and seemed to really enjoy it. There wasn’t too much of a crowd there, so we got a lot of character interaction. Pete, from Pete’s Dragon, the Fairy Godmother, and one of Cinderella’s stepsisters all wished me a happy birthday!

When the parade ended and we left the park, we watched the last of the D-Land fireworks while standing in the middle of the walkway between the parks. You can’t hear the music, but it’s a great view. Everybody else left for the night, but my mom and I decided to try and go back to Tomorrow Land to see how the crowds were around Astro Blasters and Finding Nemo. Big mistake, do not recommend it in the future. It was way too busy there to do anything. We ended up meandering around to Adventure Land and did the Jungle Cruise at night, always a fun ride in the dark. We headed back to our rooms at about 10:30 that night, but my sister was ill and I had to help her out so I didn’t get to sleep till about 12:30am.

More to come tomorrow!

Part Three!

Day Six: D-Land
The day started off well, slow, but fun. I stayed in the room a bit longer, walked over around 7:45am, and managed to get into the park just after 8am. I wanted to go with the flow and not have much of an actual game plan. It was my aunt and cousin’s last day, so we all wanted to make sure they did everything they wanted to. I did Finding Nemo, the claustrophobic viewing room version. No wait, it was great! I ran into my sister and parents when they were in line but refused to jump in the line with them so I did the other viewing room. I was done and out before they’d even gotten on the ride…The ride is cool, but not worth an hour or more wait. Then I headed to Astro Blasters, no wait at all so I did that real fast. Boy is that a fun ride! I emailed myself the results. Then at about 9am I decided to go on POTC.

The ride started out fine until I got into the scene with the bride auction, then the ride stopped. We were stuck in the boats for about 15 minutes as they kept trying to start it up again. Every few minutes they’d pipe in somebody telling us to remain seated, that they were trying to fix the problem, etc. I will forever have “We wants the redhead!” stuck in my head…Pretty soon everybody started taking flash photos of the room to pass the time, which is really hard on the eyes. After about 20 minutes or so, the floodlights came on and the message changed to a call to all CMs on hand to come help with evacuation of the ride. All of a sudden I saw a staircase that I’d never noticed before and a door at the top leading out of the ride.

Apparently it’s the rule that there has to be 2 CMs there before they can let people out of the boats, so we had to wait for a second CM to show up. Eventually we were all led off and up the stairs and down a hallway. That led outside to a bunch of green structures and security guards leading the way out. We were led to another building, past what appeared to be break rooms and confused CMs, into a freight elevator and up a floor to yet another hallway. Here there were CMs handing out a universal fast pass to each of us(which I kept as a momento), and the next thing I know, I’m over by the French Market somewhere. It was a very weird experience.

My family was waiting for me in Tomorrow Land so I hopped on the train and rode it to there. Unfortunately they stopped to add another train to the tracks which ate up more time, so I was pretty frazzled by the time I found my family. Half of them were inside Innoventions, so my mom and I left to go to Frontier Land so I could get fries from the Conestoga Wagon. I love those fries, always so hot and fresh. We walked back to Tomorrow Land after that to meet up with the rest of the family. We all decided on going to Billy Hill, so it was back to Frontier Land. It was fun, as always. Afterwards, we managed to get the main Billy Hill to come out after the performance and take pictures in character with Hammy the trophy on stage. It was amazing!

We did Riverbelle Terrace for lunch after that. I’d never done lunch there before and got the turkey sandwich. It was great and I was able to save half of it for breakfast the next day. My sister and I did some shopping in the park after that. We stopped after the Tomorrow Land shops and returned to the hotel for a break. My cousin and aunt left during that time to go catch their airplane back home.

Met back with the family around 6:30 that evening. I had a hot dog at the Coke Corner for dinner that night. They no longer sell footlongs, though they charge the same price…somewhat disappointing. My sister got chicken strips from the Stage Door at the Golden Horseshoe. I ate some of her food, as well as some of the really tasty funnel cake my dad got for us to share. I’d never had one before and it was hot and delicious! Really fresh.

My sister returned to the room for the night after that, and my parents and I did the Tiki Room, always great fun. Then we headed to Tomorrow Land and watched an 80’s tribute band perform. They were really good and fun to watch, though really loud. A little after 9pm we wandered onto Main Street and found a perfect place to stand in the middle of the crowd for the fireworks. It was a really amazing place to see them from.

After that, we did some of the shops on Main Street, where I bought a couple of cookbooks with the money my grandparents had given to me for my birthday. We left the park around 10pm to get an earlier night’s sleep.

Day Seven: Both parks
My parents and I headed into D-Land at opening time, did Splash Mountain, Haunted Mansion, and POTC first thing before doing breakfast at Riverbelle Terrace. I had the pancakes this time. They were ok, not the freshest pancakes, but I’ve had worse.

My sister joined us late as we walked over to DCA about 9:45 in the morning for the opening. They let us inside the park early so we were able to walk nearly all the way to Paradise Pier by the time the park opened, which put us in a great spot to get in line for Toy Story Midway Mania. We only had about a half hour wait and boy was it fun! What a great ride! My sister and I really loved it. After that we did some shopping, and then headed to see Golden Dreams, and It’s Tough to be a Bug. We ate lunch at the Pacific Wharf again. I got the chicken and apple salad in a bread bowl, it was really good too.

I got tired and left around 3:30 for the hotel to try and nap but only rested. I spent the rest of the time writing out a list of the rides I still had to do before the end of our trip.

When I returned to DCA, we did Midway Mania one last time before heading to Taste Pilot’s Grill for dinner. Their ribs sure are tasty! And the restaurant is way less busy around 7 pm after the dinner rush is over.

My sister left soon after that, and my parents and I went over to look at the Redwood Creek challenge area at night. It gets very hot and humid in there, we discovered. Not much airflow there I think.

We left for D-Land soon after that. We did some Main Street shops, made a few purchases, and then my dad left for the night. My mom and I tried to get into Innoventions, but apparently they close at 9pm. We meandered our way out of the park and back to the hotel after that to get a good night’s sleep.

More to come tonight!:D

Great report !!! Thats so cool about the Fantasmic expierence with the priority seating..... I LOVE the chicken and apple salad from Pacific wharf cafe as well !!! I went to DCA in May and had it then.... I also reccomend their turkey sandwich as well.... I will be going to DLR in a few months so look for my report !!!:)

It sounds like you had a great trip! I can't wait to go next summer! Thanks for writing it!

Great report...
I discovered the Shrimp Salad this past spring & love it! My daughter has some noise issues - I had never thought of something as simple as cotton balls!! Thanks for mentioning that - we'll have to try it next time!

I also reccomend their turkey sandwich as well
My parents split one and it looked really good. The food there is seriously too delicious, I could go there every day and get something totally different each time and be happy.

My daughter has some noise issues - I had never thought of something as simple as cotton balls!!
Yeah, my aunt actually suggested it and I just experimented with it this time. I used it on Indy, and POTC when I got stuck because the ride is super loud when you're not moving through it. I also used it while watching Fantasmic! because that is really loud too.

It sounds like you had a great trip!
This was probably my best trip there, and I've had several really great trips, so that says something!

Ok, and now, for the final part of my trip report...
-Foodie:D

Day Eight: Both parks
Started off in D-Land. Did POTC one last time, then went to breakfast as a family at Café Orleans. We’d never been there and we all got the Mickey waffles, except for my dad who got the eggs and potatoes. Everything was really good and the view from the table was great.

I went off on my own after that, and got right onto the Mark Twain for a trip around the Rivers of America. After that, I did Innoventions finally and got to see the new House of the Future. Very cool. After that I went to Main Street and took pictures of all the shop windows. The displays are so amazing, they brought back some displays from over the years, along with some new ones, like this great Ratatouille display that moves! I did the Penny Arcade, the Cinema, and finally tried a corn dog from the Red Wagon. It was pretty good. I met up with my family again just before 3pm.

We split up again and I headed over to DCA to catch the HSM2 parade/show. I got there in enough time to get a great front row seat that was in the shade. It was pretty cute, and I have to admit to having watched the movies, so I knew most of the songs already which helped. After that I got one last Dynamic Duo smoothie from Schmoozies, my favorite! I then headed over to see the Totem Ceremony in the Redwood Creek area. It was fun to see Koda and Kenai. Then I headed back to the Hollywood Backlot area and saw the drawing show with Sorcerer Mickey, and then did Monsters Inc. I had enough time after that to scope out the route for the Pixar Parade. I found a great spot in the shade and my family found me eventually. Boy what an amazing and fun parade! I was highly impressed. I loved the Ratatouille float a lot, though it was all really amazing. I’m really glad my dad had seen it the day before because he was able to tell me when to cover my camera. Wow did we get wet!

After that I returned to the hotel for a while before meeting up with my family at around 7 at the World of Disney in DTD where my sister was doing some shopping. We went back to D-Land after that. We ate at the French Market and the food was great! My dad and I both got the salmon, which was cooked perfectly, and my mom got the vegetarian pasta dish which was also tasty. We were all pretty impressed.

My sister left and my parents and I walked around until 9 and then went to Main Street to watch the fireworks one final time. It was awesome as usual, though Tinkerbell didn’t fly that night. From there we made our way to the Tomorrow Land Terrace to watch an Elvis impersonator play. He was pretty good and it was a lot of fun to watch. After a while we wandered over to Fantasy Land to do Casey Jr. in the dark, one of our favorites to do in the dark. We were going to do the Canal boats too but the line was too long. I left my parents after that, to give them some time alone in the park, and walked through Sleeping Beauty’s Castle finally and out into Main Street. I bought one last box of popcorn and took a train ride around the entire park as the very last thing I did before leaving for the night. It was a perfect conclusion to a perfect trip to Disneyland.

Days Nine and Ten: The ride home
Pretty boring again, though the smoke had cleared out up north. We drove faster and made it to Anderson, CA about 5:30 Saturday night. The next day we got an early start and made it back to Seattle about 6:30 Sunday night. Luckily I had Monday off to do laundry and grocery shopping before having to return to work.

Notes and things I learned:
Do-Take a leftover container and remember to use it.
Do-Use ear plugs if things are too noisy, it really helps.
Do-Remember to reapply sunscreen several times each day.
Do-Get your birthday pin if it’s your birthday. Those things are gold!
Do-Buy a case of bottled water outside the park and bring them each day with you. I estimate that I saved over $50 by doing this.
Do Not-Head to Tomorrow Land right after the fireworks. It’s way too crazy there.
Do Not-Go on Grizzly River Rapids if spinning in a circle over and over again tends to make you sick.

Great Trip Report!!

I got the disney itch BAAAADDD!!

So what's up with the shielding your camera in the parade?

You have to be careful because they get you really wet during the parade. They spray water on you at any and every chance they can. Each float has different things to spray water on the guests, so if you're not careful you can ruin your camera. It's so much fun though! Especially in really hot weather.

Loved your trip report.... I am still waiting and hoping of being dreamed.... I am soo happy for you and your family on your special Fantasmic Seating....That is the best. I too was really lucky to spend my Birthday at my favorite place in the world and it was soooo fun..... Thank you so much for sharing your story...You really got me excited for our upcoming Halloween trip. Oh and how did you like the Tropicanna?? Never stayed there..

Thanks dznygrl73! As far as getting chosen for a dream, what the CM who gave us our dream said is to look out for the people dressed in blue, with bags. And he said if any of them have a white vest, to hurry over to them and start chatting. Our guy didn't have a white vest though, so maybe only some of them have them. Who knows...

As far as the Tropicana goes, I love the location, but I found the mattresses to be super hard. It left my back pretty sore each morning. And for somebody carrying a backpack with four water bottles shoved into it, that's pretty important!

I'd love to go near Halloween! You'll have to make sure to write up a trip report when you get back!
-Foodie:D

Great report. So glad that you all had a great time. Thank you so much for sharing!

Loved your report! Now that I have finally been there, I can picture everything! Oh, another suggestion about water: You can get free cups of ice water at any counter service place. I did that all day, every day. And they give you the regular medium size drink cups! Your suggestion about cotton in the ears was good, too. I noticed sometimes the rides that were loud scared my baby niece. Sounds like you had a great birthday!

You can get free cups of ice water at any counter service place.

This is great to take advantage of, I recall one person offering me water when I ordered food. I just thought he was being nice.

Sounds like you had a great birthday!
It was awesome! I really have been dreading turning 30, so when we planned our trip around it, I figured, where better to turn 30?! Of course now I'm spoiled, I'll definitely have to go for my 40th too!:D