adikted2disney
08-17-2008, 11:31 AM
Cast: adikted2disney, 23- me!, my fiance, 23, our 2 1/2 year old daughter, Autumn, & my mom, late fifties
Travel dates: August 12-16 (@ Disneyland August 13-15)
Travel method: mom's car by way of I-5
Resort: Desert Palm Hotel and Suites
Accomodations: night 1- spa suite. remainder of stay- Kalahari Family Suite
Disney resort experience represented in group: my fiance is a vet, I am on my way to becoming a vet, Autumn is still a rookie, and my mom hadn't been there in almost 20 years!
Comments: My most enjoyable trip to Disneyland yet! I made several milestones- going on Matterhorn and Splash Mountain for the first time ever! Autumn also moved on up in terms of rides since going last year when she was only 1 1/2.
Day One:
We left half a day earlier than planned. We were supposed to leave at 3am on Wednesday but my mom did not want to drive in the middle of the night. We booked an extra night at our hotel and left at 3pm on Tuesday. We only made one stop on I-5, at the In and Out right before the Grapevine. We arrived in Anaheim at approximately 9pm. Our room was oddly arranged. It was the "spa suite" but we called it the "blah suite". The first room was tiny! It had a pull-out sofa and a window overlooking the pool. The AC unit was in this little first room so it was difficult to get the air circulating through the rest of the room. The attached room had a king size bed and "spa" in the
bathroom was actually a gigantic tub with a shower head... it was scary. We watched some of the Olympics and went to bed!
Day Two:
We got up around 8am to check out of our room because we had a different room for the remainder of the trip. I'm not sure why but the nice lady at the front desk upgraded us to the Kalahari Family Suite for the remainder of the trip!! It's a 2 bedroom suite with 4 queen beds and 2 bathrooms. My mom was super excited because she did NOT like the room from the night before. This was a great start to our day. We even got to check in right away instead of waiting until 3pm later in the day. This is the second time we have stayed at the Desert Palm and now the second time we've been upgraded, so no complaints here.
We arrived at the Disneyland at 9am because we had a PS for Carnation Cafe (my favorite breakfast in the whole world)! To kill some time we took pictures with Walt's statue and in front of the Castle. Breakfast at Carnation Cafe is always a pleasure. I had my favorite- the Mickey Mouse Waffle with Strawberry topping and bacon. It was absolutely delicious. My fiance had the
ham and cheese croissant and my mom had the apple pancakes. I love how Chef Oscar makes his rounds and always comes over to say hello. After an excellent breakfast we headed over to California Adventure and got our FP's for Soarin. Then we made a beeline for Toy Story Mania. I was truly impressed with the ride. We waited about 45 minutes in line which was not bad, although it was getting to be hot already! I scored 56,000, mom scored 35,000, and my fiance scored 106,000. My mom loved the ride! DCA is a truly new experience for her because the last time she was there, it was still the parking lot! Autumn was mesmerized by everything, especially Mr. Potato Head. Next was Bug's Land- strictly for Autumn. We hopped on Heimlich's Chew Chew Train and the CM operating the train was quite fond of Autumn. It was time to get on Soarin, which I really wanted my mom to get on. She was really nervous because she is definitely not a ride person... rides of any kind! She and my fiance went first while I waited with Autumn. When they came back, my mom wanted to go again so I went with her! She loved Soarin! I think it was her favorite ride from the whole trip other than TSM. She said she could tell people that she'd been everywhere this summer- Napa, Palm Springs, San Diego, LA, SF... good one mom. Next, we got FP's for Grizzly River Run and headed over to Hollywood. We looked in some shops and headed to Monster's Inc. This was everyone's first time on the ride.
Walking back over towards Grizzly River Run, we saw Snow White! Autumn was bursting with excitement! It is truly amazing seeing your child excited over a character. Even I was excited... we hopped in line and took pictures with her. Snow White was so sweet! I love how she (and other characters) never break character! The way she held her hand while she posed was
so funny! It was so dainty! My daughter said Hi, Snow White, I'm Autumn. After our encounter with Snow White, we went over to Grizzly River Run. Mom and Autumn waited while we pretty much walked to the front. I will not get on a ride that offers FP's and not get a FP! Why wait an hour in line when you can just walk right up and wait maybe 5-10 minutes. Grizzly
River Run is one of my favorite rides at DCA. Going up the ramp before you get in the water, I got so wet! Those little "leaks" in the pipes above us got everyone all wet in the face! By the time we got off the ride, it was getting really hot, mom was getting cranky, and Autumn had fallen asleep, so we headed back to the hotel for a rest at about 2:30pm.
We returned to Disneyland a little before 6pm. Our plan was to get something for dinner and then get a spot for Fantasmic and wait. We found a good spot right in front and put our blankets down and folded down Autumn's stroller. Mom stayed behind while we went off in search of food. We ended up going to Bengal BBQ and getting 2 bengal beef skewers and 1 safari skewer.
The beef skewers were really good and I liked the sauce. I was surprised how good the safari skewer was because it's just bacon wrapped aspargus. It looks a little burnt but did not have a burnt taste at all. We still had a lot of time to burn before Fantasmic started so we went looking in the shops around Frontierland and Adventureland. My fiance tried on a coonskin Davy Crockett hat, which was hilarious. He refused to buy it though. We returned to our blanket and relaxed until Fantasmic began. A CM began coming around and very rudely telling people to sit up- "this is place for sitting, not laying down". I was surprised at the tone of her voice. She was extremely rude and not polite about it at all. People were just relaxin before the show started and obviously were not going to lay down when the show started. Finally, it was time for Fantasmic. Autumn was much more into the show this year and was mesmerized by Mickey and all the water and colors. My mom complained
about having to look through the bars along the water to see the show, but then again, she complains about everything. After Fantasmic, we decided to head back to the hotel because we had an early day the next day.
Overall, the beginning of our DLR trip was going very well. Autumn was being a total angel as opposed to last year. Last summer, she only wanted her daddy to hold her and had several tantrums. This time around, she was so excited and patient, I was impressed. Another surprising thing was the crowds. My fiance and I were taken aback at the lack of people in the park. The last few summers we've gone, it's been so crowded and the wait times were ridiculous. This time, we easily walked around and did not feel like a herd
of cattle while walking through the park. This was beginning to be the start of a great trip...
More to come later, I need a break! Day 2 to follow...
Travel dates: August 12-16 (@ Disneyland August 13-15)
Travel method: mom's car by way of I-5
Resort: Desert Palm Hotel and Suites
Accomodations: night 1- spa suite. remainder of stay- Kalahari Family Suite
Disney resort experience represented in group: my fiance is a vet, I am on my way to becoming a vet, Autumn is still a rookie, and my mom hadn't been there in almost 20 years!
Comments: My most enjoyable trip to Disneyland yet! I made several milestones- going on Matterhorn and Splash Mountain for the first time ever! Autumn also moved on up in terms of rides since going last year when she was only 1 1/2.
Day One:
We left half a day earlier than planned. We were supposed to leave at 3am on Wednesday but my mom did not want to drive in the middle of the night. We booked an extra night at our hotel and left at 3pm on Tuesday. We only made one stop on I-5, at the In and Out right before the Grapevine. We arrived in Anaheim at approximately 9pm. Our room was oddly arranged. It was the "spa suite" but we called it the "blah suite". The first room was tiny! It had a pull-out sofa and a window overlooking the pool. The AC unit was in this little first room so it was difficult to get the air circulating through the rest of the room. The attached room had a king size bed and "spa" in the
bathroom was actually a gigantic tub with a shower head... it was scary. We watched some of the Olympics and went to bed!
Day Two:
We got up around 8am to check out of our room because we had a different room for the remainder of the trip. I'm not sure why but the nice lady at the front desk upgraded us to the Kalahari Family Suite for the remainder of the trip!! It's a 2 bedroom suite with 4 queen beds and 2 bathrooms. My mom was super excited because she did NOT like the room from the night before. This was a great start to our day. We even got to check in right away instead of waiting until 3pm later in the day. This is the second time we have stayed at the Desert Palm and now the second time we've been upgraded, so no complaints here.
We arrived at the Disneyland at 9am because we had a PS for Carnation Cafe (my favorite breakfast in the whole world)! To kill some time we took pictures with Walt's statue and in front of the Castle. Breakfast at Carnation Cafe is always a pleasure. I had my favorite- the Mickey Mouse Waffle with Strawberry topping and bacon. It was absolutely delicious. My fiance had the
ham and cheese croissant and my mom had the apple pancakes. I love how Chef Oscar makes his rounds and always comes over to say hello. After an excellent breakfast we headed over to California Adventure and got our FP's for Soarin. Then we made a beeline for Toy Story Mania. I was truly impressed with the ride. We waited about 45 minutes in line which was not bad, although it was getting to be hot already! I scored 56,000, mom scored 35,000, and my fiance scored 106,000. My mom loved the ride! DCA is a truly new experience for her because the last time she was there, it was still the parking lot! Autumn was mesmerized by everything, especially Mr. Potato Head. Next was Bug's Land- strictly for Autumn. We hopped on Heimlich's Chew Chew Train and the CM operating the train was quite fond of Autumn. It was time to get on Soarin, which I really wanted my mom to get on. She was really nervous because she is definitely not a ride person... rides of any kind! She and my fiance went first while I waited with Autumn. When they came back, my mom wanted to go again so I went with her! She loved Soarin! I think it was her favorite ride from the whole trip other than TSM. She said she could tell people that she'd been everywhere this summer- Napa, Palm Springs, San Diego, LA, SF... good one mom. Next, we got FP's for Grizzly River Run and headed over to Hollywood. We looked in some shops and headed to Monster's Inc. This was everyone's first time on the ride.
Walking back over towards Grizzly River Run, we saw Snow White! Autumn was bursting with excitement! It is truly amazing seeing your child excited over a character. Even I was excited... we hopped in line and took pictures with her. Snow White was so sweet! I love how she (and other characters) never break character! The way she held her hand while she posed was
so funny! It was so dainty! My daughter said Hi, Snow White, I'm Autumn. After our encounter with Snow White, we went over to Grizzly River Run. Mom and Autumn waited while we pretty much walked to the front. I will not get on a ride that offers FP's and not get a FP! Why wait an hour in line when you can just walk right up and wait maybe 5-10 minutes. Grizzly
River Run is one of my favorite rides at DCA. Going up the ramp before you get in the water, I got so wet! Those little "leaks" in the pipes above us got everyone all wet in the face! By the time we got off the ride, it was getting really hot, mom was getting cranky, and Autumn had fallen asleep, so we headed back to the hotel for a rest at about 2:30pm.
We returned to Disneyland a little before 6pm. Our plan was to get something for dinner and then get a spot for Fantasmic and wait. We found a good spot right in front and put our blankets down and folded down Autumn's stroller. Mom stayed behind while we went off in search of food. We ended up going to Bengal BBQ and getting 2 bengal beef skewers and 1 safari skewer.
The beef skewers were really good and I liked the sauce. I was surprised how good the safari skewer was because it's just bacon wrapped aspargus. It looks a little burnt but did not have a burnt taste at all. We still had a lot of time to burn before Fantasmic started so we went looking in the shops around Frontierland and Adventureland. My fiance tried on a coonskin Davy Crockett hat, which was hilarious. He refused to buy it though. We returned to our blanket and relaxed until Fantasmic began. A CM began coming around and very rudely telling people to sit up- "this is place for sitting, not laying down". I was surprised at the tone of her voice. She was extremely rude and not polite about it at all. People were just relaxin before the show started and obviously were not going to lay down when the show started. Finally, it was time for Fantasmic. Autumn was much more into the show this year and was mesmerized by Mickey and all the water and colors. My mom complained
about having to look through the bars along the water to see the show, but then again, she complains about everything. After Fantasmic, we decided to head back to the hotel because we had an early day the next day.
Overall, the beginning of our DLR trip was going very well. Autumn was being a total angel as opposed to last year. Last summer, she only wanted her daddy to hold her and had several tantrums. This time around, she was so excited and patient, I was impressed. Another surprising thing was the crowds. My fiance and I were taken aback at the lack of people in the park. The last few summers we've gone, it's been so crowded and the wait times were ridiculous. This time, we easily walked around and did not feel like a herd
of cattle while walking through the park. This was beginning to be the start of a great trip...
More to come later, I need a break! Day 2 to follow...