LDYPMP23
10-13-2008, 04:29 PM
Who: Me (28), my mom and dad (both 49), my son (6), my daughter (5), and my other daughter (2)
Where: Holiday Inn Anaheim Resort
What: Rented minivan from Phoenix, AZ
When: 10/5-10/10
10/5
We started out on 10/5 attending church like any normal Sunday. We had decided to leave around 2pm so that we would get there about night fall. We rented a minivan so that we would all have enough room to sit and be comfortable for the 5 hour drive. We ended up getting out of Phoenix around .3pm and arrived at the Holiday Inn around 8:30. We had made our reservations on Hotwire and so the cost was about $56/night. We had requested adjoining rooms so that the kids could wander between rooms without having to go out into the hall. Upon check in, we were given both room as requested and were advised that since we were Priority Club members we would be receiving a complimentary paper delivery each morning and that kids eat free in their restaurant and we also received 10% off of our bill. We headed up to the room to check in and were please with the accomodations. The beds were comfy and both rooms had a mini fridge. I did think it was a bit odd that my room only had a walk in shower and my mom and dad's room had the old shower/bath combo. All rooms were equipped with high speed internet connection and it was very easy to access. We could see the Disneyland fireworks from our window on the 3rd floor (we could hear them too LOL). This hotel is very close to a freeway but we could not hear it at all inside. We set our bags down and headed down to the hotel restaurant, American Brasserie, to grab dinner. We were seated and scanned the menu. The waitress came and took our drink orders and was kind of short with the kids (I like them to order on their own). I then proceeded to order the fish tacos and she recommended that I order anything but that. LOL She said a lot of people send those back so I settled for fish and chips instead. My dad had a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich, mom had a tuna melt, and kids had mini pizzas and mac and cheese. The prices for the adult entrees set off the free kids meal prices (which I think a lot of restaurants do). It was decent but we decided that we probably wouldn't eat there again.
Originally, we had planned to have Monday as our free day but then we decided to hit up Universal Studios just in case we needed that extra day to finish it.
10/6 - Universal Studios
We woke up early and grabbed a bite to eat in the room. We took a ton of breakfast items and so we just ate there. Then, we headed off to Hollywood. We left about 9:00 which we though would get us to the park just about time for the opening at 10:00. We knew traffic would be bad but did not anticipate how bad traffic is in LA. We ended up at the park around 10:30. When we entered the turnstyle, we had to scan our index finger. They use the scanning system to associate your ticket with your finger. That way, if you have to re-enter the park, no one else can swap you for your pass. Once we were through the gate, I went to get a stroller and noticed they were trying to get you to buy everything from credit cards to photos. My dad took a brief survey and they gave us a front of the line pass for the Studio Tour. Once we were past the main street area, we started seeing characters. We saw Dora first and my 2 year old went wild - she jumped out of the stroller and started hugging her leg. We got lots of pictures and then moved along to the other character - Curious George, Shrek, and Spongebob. There weren't any line to meet the characters so we got through all of that pretty quickly. We decided to do the Shrek 4D movie next and it was very good. My 2 year old was scared because the seats move A LOT and you get sprayed a lot during different parts of the show. After that, we decided to skip the Curious George section (all water) and head to the Studio Tour. This was one of the best parts of the trip and we enjoyed going through all of the action behind the scenes. After that, we were hungry so we grabbed some lunch at various vendors along the way. One of the best things about lunch were the refillable souvenier drink, we spent like 8$ on the bottle and had 75 cent refills all day. We definately got our moneys worth! Next, we were excited to go on the new Simpsons ride. The wait was about 45 minutes but they have these really neat child swap areas that actually have benches and toys for the toddlers while you are waiting. We did the parent swap thing and the ride was fantastic. I loved it! While I was on the Simpson's ride, my parents took my 2 and 5 year old to the pet show and they really liked it as well. Then we headed down the humungous escalator to reach the next set of rides. We went to Jurassic Park which is a water ride and we all enjoyed that. Next, we went on The Mummy which was a really fun roller coaster that went backwards and forwards. All of these rides we had to parent swap on. Then we ended up doing a couple of stage shows. My 5 year old got picked to go up on stage and play the part of Tinkerbell. It was really cute! By then, the park was about to close. We missed out on Waterworld and Terminator but didn't want to come back for another whole day just for that. We did a little shopping and my 5 year old wanted to go into the House of Horrors. She was a little freaked out since there were actual live monsters in there. We left the park and walk down Citywalk. We ended up eating dinner at Bucca di Beppo where we had the best waiter (Santiago) and great food. We made our way back to the hotel to prepare for the next day - Disney finally!
10/7 - Disneyland
Once again, we started out about 45 minutes early to get to Disney when the gates opened. Since it was only 7 minutes from the hotel this should have been no problem. We ended up at the gate about 10 minutes after opening and then had to stand in line for a stroller for 30 minutes. Luckily, they do have a multi-day stroller pass so we wouldn't have to wait in line again. I was surprised at how busy it was. I figured most of the schools would be in session and I have previously been in October and it was dead. Not so much this time....While I waited in line for the stroller, my dad took the kids to get autographs. We were the last ones in line for Mickey before he had to go and Minnie ran over and got in the picture too so that was a special treat. We were supposed to have lunch at Ariel's Grotto at 11:30 so we attempted to go directly to Nemo (so we could at least get in a couple rides before lunch) but there was already a 1 hour wait so we decided to jump into the line for Autopia (fast passes were not turned on this day). We only had to wait about 20 minutes and it was a great jump start to the vacation. All of the kids loved this ride and they thought it was cool to get a drivers license. After that, we decided to make our way to California Adventure so that we could make our lunch reservation. This is where we had a minor blip in the vacation....I walked in and gave our name. They couldn't find me in the system (I had called ahead and made priority seating reservations). She checked for what seemed like forever and said that someone had mistakenly switched my Goofy's Kitchen day with my Ariel's Grotto day and now they were completely booked and could not get us in. I was really upset since we just wasted a ton of time trekking all the way over there for nothing. Did I mention it was in the high 90's and we were hot and thirsty as well? I told them that it was unacceptable and since it was a Disney problem, they needed to try to get us in. They kep saying they were checking with the manager but after 45 minutes of not being helped at all, we decided to just leave and ride the rides in California Adventure. Me and my mom took my son on Screamin while my dad took my 2 daughters on the carousel, the Sun Wheel, and the Golden Zephyr. We met up with them and ate corn dogs for lunch and then my dad took my two oldest on Mulholland Madness and then we headed to the Grizzly River Run. My mom watched the baby while she napped and we stood in line. DLR seemed really busy even though it was mid-week and it didn't seem like Disney was prepared for the crowds. Most all of the fast pass kiosks were closed and lines were long. Luckily, the Grizzly River Run is all shaded so it was an enjoyable wait in the least. After we got drenched on the River Run, we headed over to the Bug's Life Land. There were minimal lines and the kids enjoyed riding everything - but - there were many attractions that were broke down so they ended up riding the same things over and over. After that, we were off to the Tower of Terror and my dad stayed behind with my oldest and youngest while me, my mom, and middle daughter went to the ride. The wait was only like 20 minutes and the ride was great! This was my first time on the ride and I loved it. Then, we met back up with everyone else and took a quick ride on Monsters Inc. When we were leaving CA Adventure, we ran into the parade and the kids really enjoyed it. Lots of water squirting, bubbles etc...my favorite were the chefs on stilts! We headed back over to Disney and rode the rockets and I had my mom, dad, and older 2 kids go into Star Wars since there wasn't any wait. While they rode that, me and my 2 year old rode Buzz Lightyear and had a ball! By then, it was time to head over to Goofy's Kitchen for dinner. We checked in 15 minutes early and were called within 5 minutes. I was surprised at how empty the restaurant was. We always enjoy the experience at Goofy's Kitchen and had fun with the characters...I also think they have a great variety of food for both kids and adults alike. We got character pics and autographs. We walked all the way back to the parking garage and fell into the car and back to the hotel. I think we were asleep in 5 minutes.....
10/8 - Free Day
We needed a break. We took advantage and slept in and then grabbed a quick bite to eat in the room. We took the kids down to the pool and let them swim (it's heated) and it's shaped like a Mickey Mouse head which is neat. After that, we showered and took off to downtown Disney - grabbed lunch at the rainforest and shopped the day away. It's nice to have a day of relaxation in between all of the other hectic days - I'm sure our feet appreciated it too.:p
Last Disney day will be posted tomorrow....thanks for reading!
Where: Holiday Inn Anaheim Resort
What: Rented minivan from Phoenix, AZ
When: 10/5-10/10
10/5
We started out on 10/5 attending church like any normal Sunday. We had decided to leave around 2pm so that we would get there about night fall. We rented a minivan so that we would all have enough room to sit and be comfortable for the 5 hour drive. We ended up getting out of Phoenix around .3pm and arrived at the Holiday Inn around 8:30. We had made our reservations on Hotwire and so the cost was about $56/night. We had requested adjoining rooms so that the kids could wander between rooms without having to go out into the hall. Upon check in, we were given both room as requested and were advised that since we were Priority Club members we would be receiving a complimentary paper delivery each morning and that kids eat free in their restaurant and we also received 10% off of our bill. We headed up to the room to check in and were please with the accomodations. The beds were comfy and both rooms had a mini fridge. I did think it was a bit odd that my room only had a walk in shower and my mom and dad's room had the old shower/bath combo. All rooms were equipped with high speed internet connection and it was very easy to access. We could see the Disneyland fireworks from our window on the 3rd floor (we could hear them too LOL). This hotel is very close to a freeway but we could not hear it at all inside. We set our bags down and headed down to the hotel restaurant, American Brasserie, to grab dinner. We were seated and scanned the menu. The waitress came and took our drink orders and was kind of short with the kids (I like them to order on their own). I then proceeded to order the fish tacos and she recommended that I order anything but that. LOL She said a lot of people send those back so I settled for fish and chips instead. My dad had a Philly Cheesesteak sandwich, mom had a tuna melt, and kids had mini pizzas and mac and cheese. The prices for the adult entrees set off the free kids meal prices (which I think a lot of restaurants do). It was decent but we decided that we probably wouldn't eat there again.
Originally, we had planned to have Monday as our free day but then we decided to hit up Universal Studios just in case we needed that extra day to finish it.
10/6 - Universal Studios
We woke up early and grabbed a bite to eat in the room. We took a ton of breakfast items and so we just ate there. Then, we headed off to Hollywood. We left about 9:00 which we though would get us to the park just about time for the opening at 10:00. We knew traffic would be bad but did not anticipate how bad traffic is in LA. We ended up at the park around 10:30. When we entered the turnstyle, we had to scan our index finger. They use the scanning system to associate your ticket with your finger. That way, if you have to re-enter the park, no one else can swap you for your pass. Once we were through the gate, I went to get a stroller and noticed they were trying to get you to buy everything from credit cards to photos. My dad took a brief survey and they gave us a front of the line pass for the Studio Tour. Once we were past the main street area, we started seeing characters. We saw Dora first and my 2 year old went wild - she jumped out of the stroller and started hugging her leg. We got lots of pictures and then moved along to the other character - Curious George, Shrek, and Spongebob. There weren't any line to meet the characters so we got through all of that pretty quickly. We decided to do the Shrek 4D movie next and it was very good. My 2 year old was scared because the seats move A LOT and you get sprayed a lot during different parts of the show. After that, we decided to skip the Curious George section (all water) and head to the Studio Tour. This was one of the best parts of the trip and we enjoyed going through all of the action behind the scenes. After that, we were hungry so we grabbed some lunch at various vendors along the way. One of the best things about lunch were the refillable souvenier drink, we spent like 8$ on the bottle and had 75 cent refills all day. We definately got our moneys worth! Next, we were excited to go on the new Simpsons ride. The wait was about 45 minutes but they have these really neat child swap areas that actually have benches and toys for the toddlers while you are waiting. We did the parent swap thing and the ride was fantastic. I loved it! While I was on the Simpson's ride, my parents took my 2 and 5 year old to the pet show and they really liked it as well. Then we headed down the humungous escalator to reach the next set of rides. We went to Jurassic Park which is a water ride and we all enjoyed that. Next, we went on The Mummy which was a really fun roller coaster that went backwards and forwards. All of these rides we had to parent swap on. Then we ended up doing a couple of stage shows. My 5 year old got picked to go up on stage and play the part of Tinkerbell. It was really cute! By then, the park was about to close. We missed out on Waterworld and Terminator but didn't want to come back for another whole day just for that. We did a little shopping and my 5 year old wanted to go into the House of Horrors. She was a little freaked out since there were actual live monsters in there. We left the park and walk down Citywalk. We ended up eating dinner at Bucca di Beppo where we had the best waiter (Santiago) and great food. We made our way back to the hotel to prepare for the next day - Disney finally!
10/7 - Disneyland
Once again, we started out about 45 minutes early to get to Disney when the gates opened. Since it was only 7 minutes from the hotel this should have been no problem. We ended up at the gate about 10 minutes after opening and then had to stand in line for a stroller for 30 minutes. Luckily, they do have a multi-day stroller pass so we wouldn't have to wait in line again. I was surprised at how busy it was. I figured most of the schools would be in session and I have previously been in October and it was dead. Not so much this time....While I waited in line for the stroller, my dad took the kids to get autographs. We were the last ones in line for Mickey before he had to go and Minnie ran over and got in the picture too so that was a special treat. We were supposed to have lunch at Ariel's Grotto at 11:30 so we attempted to go directly to Nemo (so we could at least get in a couple rides before lunch) but there was already a 1 hour wait so we decided to jump into the line for Autopia (fast passes were not turned on this day). We only had to wait about 20 minutes and it was a great jump start to the vacation. All of the kids loved this ride and they thought it was cool to get a drivers license. After that, we decided to make our way to California Adventure so that we could make our lunch reservation. This is where we had a minor blip in the vacation....I walked in and gave our name. They couldn't find me in the system (I had called ahead and made priority seating reservations). She checked for what seemed like forever and said that someone had mistakenly switched my Goofy's Kitchen day with my Ariel's Grotto day and now they were completely booked and could not get us in. I was really upset since we just wasted a ton of time trekking all the way over there for nothing. Did I mention it was in the high 90's and we were hot and thirsty as well? I told them that it was unacceptable and since it was a Disney problem, they needed to try to get us in. They kep saying they were checking with the manager but after 45 minutes of not being helped at all, we decided to just leave and ride the rides in California Adventure. Me and my mom took my son on Screamin while my dad took my 2 daughters on the carousel, the Sun Wheel, and the Golden Zephyr. We met up with them and ate corn dogs for lunch and then my dad took my two oldest on Mulholland Madness and then we headed to the Grizzly River Run. My mom watched the baby while she napped and we stood in line. DLR seemed really busy even though it was mid-week and it didn't seem like Disney was prepared for the crowds. Most all of the fast pass kiosks were closed and lines were long. Luckily, the Grizzly River Run is all shaded so it was an enjoyable wait in the least. After we got drenched on the River Run, we headed over to the Bug's Life Land. There were minimal lines and the kids enjoyed riding everything - but - there were many attractions that were broke down so they ended up riding the same things over and over. After that, we were off to the Tower of Terror and my dad stayed behind with my oldest and youngest while me, my mom, and middle daughter went to the ride. The wait was only like 20 minutes and the ride was great! This was my first time on the ride and I loved it. Then, we met back up with everyone else and took a quick ride on Monsters Inc. When we were leaving CA Adventure, we ran into the parade and the kids really enjoyed it. Lots of water squirting, bubbles etc...my favorite were the chefs on stilts! We headed back over to Disney and rode the rockets and I had my mom, dad, and older 2 kids go into Star Wars since there wasn't any wait. While they rode that, me and my 2 year old rode Buzz Lightyear and had a ball! By then, it was time to head over to Goofy's Kitchen for dinner. We checked in 15 minutes early and were called within 5 minutes. I was surprised at how empty the restaurant was. We always enjoy the experience at Goofy's Kitchen and had fun with the characters...I also think they have a great variety of food for both kids and adults alike. We got character pics and autographs. We walked all the way back to the parking garage and fell into the car and back to the hotel. I think we were asleep in 5 minutes.....
10/8 - Free Day
We needed a break. We took advantage and slept in and then grabbed a quick bite to eat in the room. We took the kids down to the pool and let them swim (it's heated) and it's shaped like a Mickey Mouse head which is neat. After that, we showered and took off to downtown Disney - grabbed lunch at the rainforest and shopped the day away. It's nice to have a day of relaxation in between all of the other hectic days - I'm sure our feet appreciated it too.:p
Last Disney day will be posted tomorrow....thanks for reading!