nursechrissy32
10-13-2008, 09:05 PM
Travel dates: October 5-10 2008
Travel method: Car from NorCal
Resort: Howard Johnson's
Accommodations: Room with 2 queen beds at rear of Howard Johnson's in building number 2
Ages Represented in Group: Me 33, husband 33, 15 year old boy (andrew) and 9 year old daughter (brooke)
Disney Resort Experience Represented in Group: Trip number 8
Cast of characters: myself, husband, andrew 15 and Brooke 9
I want to begin first of all with a warning about my once raved reviews of Getaway today. This is the second time we went through them. The first time, we bought tickets and hotel..this time just tickets.
About the tickets....We went to the ticket gates on Sunday and for some reason Disney couldnt find them in the system......do not panic..do not.....panic. The ticket agent gets the supervisor who then hands us a paper with a phone number and says "Good luck, they only have one person working on Sundays". They do have a guarantee on their website...so we call them...and call and call and call.....2 crying kids, one mad husband and a very sad me.....15 hours later recieves a call from Getaway...apparantly the phones were down all day. I was not about to buy more tickets when I already spent 600 dollars...so we opted to just buy another night hotel and get ahold of the Getaway people on Monday. :(....Getaway did feel very bad however....they told us to go Monday morning to customer service...we went and again...no tickets! At this point, I was so upset...they sent us to another customer service, finally to a ticket booth where they found the tickets in the computer system! Getaway gave us a 75 dollar credit which was to go towards the extra night. I have to say that I will not ever get tickets electronically again, this was so stressful of a first day! :( And to top it off.......we went to ESPN zone a day early and they refused to put the NASCAR race on for my husband! :( They said sorry when I complained and gave the kids 350 in credits! That was very nice too.
So as you can see...things started off yucky...but gets better as the days go along.
About the hotel....Hojo's new water area was a life saver for the very hot, and un expected October weather of 100 degrees! YIKES!!! The garden pool was also very nice. I wish that the splash area stayed open a little later...closes at dusk, I do understand there are rooms right next to the play area. As well, we had a room right next to freeway....however did not hear a thing...at all!!! Concrete walls! Interior corridors. A little bit of a slow elevator. Housekeeping was awesome and when the kids spilled water all over the bed...they came right away and changed everything! Clean towels always at the pools. A few complaints...front desk staff seemed very confused and dis organized...and the beds according to my husband need massive upgrades. Apparantly the premium rooms do have new beds, hopefully they will get them in all rooms. The whole feel to this hotel was very calming, clean and beautiful flowers and trees all around. I would stay again, however would ask for a premium bed next time.
About the food....oh my dear friends who recommended Whitewater snacks chicken nachos...yummo my favorite! Huge portion and sooooo good!! We all shared one and filled us up quick! Mimmies...:( sorry all who love this place...we had an aweful experience...we did get take out, and they were busy....but......chicken salad only had 4 diced pieces of chicken and the "soup" was only broth..they must have got the bottom of the barrel...and they gave us an upside down, broken up muffin :( We did give it another shot and had breakfast...Brooke loved the tea, however nothing too special :( I was sad about this, I wanted to tell you all how wonderful it was! :( Joe's crab shack was a hit, and alot of fun. The endless fries at Red Robins...great for a growing 15 year old boy...Shakey's pizza down the street one night, good, cheap and quiet!
About the parks...well....hot, but lovely as always. And finally I went to meet the Disneyland nurse! It was my dream at graduation speech, I spoke in front of 1,500 people and said..."Im going to Disneyland!" hehe..the Disney nurse was nice :)
About the "DREAM" oh yes.....we finally won a dream!! well, two really. The first one came from a lovely family leaving the parks after their 4 day stay. We are one of the famalies that always give away our fast passes, or our extra tickets for things etc....a happy family walked up to me and asked if we would like some food coupons, since they were going home...of course I do!! hehe...they gave us 70 dollars in Mickey food money! Wasnt that so sweet? Then.......as we get off splash mountain...I see them, they see me...and I am jumping up and down.....before my kids even see what is going on..."we won, we won...we finally won something!" No, it was not the dream suite, nor a dream fast pass.......It was........Lanyards with 2 special pins a piece! I was so excited to win, you would have thought I just won the lottery!! It was, very exciting!!!
About Miley's birthday on Sunday. My 9 year old...a HUGE Miley fan, felt her first feelings of...jelousy :(. I had to explain that it was not Miley's choice to only have so many people get to go to her party...had to explain why we could not go this time...but, we did however get to listen to the music coming from across the street as we were at HoJO..and we could hear Miley singing with her dad! And the fireworks went off at midnight, after we were all asleep....it was quite scarey waking up to Mileys fireworks by the way!
About the crazy weather in LA....beware, and pack for...EVERYTHING! Tues, and Wed so hot, we had red faces and couldnt wait to get back to the cool lull of the air conditioning, then Thursday....cooler with wind, and clouds looking like they wanted to rain! We got to the Pixar parade, water squiriting everywhere and kids a bit cold...however parade was fun and worth the occasional squirt gun sprays! PS...wear sun screen even on the cloudier days.
About the rides. The new toy story ride was fun, only waited about 40 minutes. There is a smell added to haunted mansion...I dont want to say as to not ruin for you all...it was un expected and fun, I will tell you that! :) If you really want to know, send me a PM and I will tell you about it. I bought the Disneyland soundtrack and am making a movie of pictures with the music of all of our combined trips for the kids for Christmas.....just hearing the sounds of the different rides, take me back to each cherished moment.
Well, I guess this is all...wanted to give you all more details, however..back to reality it is for me....12 hour shifts at the hospital and todays ambulance ride sirens and lights 60 miles down Highway 5, reminded me of Space mountain...sick stomach and all!! hehe...
God Bless you all, and thank you for reading, hope my information helps you all in some way. Feel free to PM me if you have any furthur questions!
Take care!
Disney Dreams!
-Christine
Travel method: Car from NorCal
Resort: Howard Johnson's
Accommodations: Room with 2 queen beds at rear of Howard Johnson's in building number 2
Ages Represented in Group: Me 33, husband 33, 15 year old boy (andrew) and 9 year old daughter (brooke)
Disney Resort Experience Represented in Group: Trip number 8
Cast of characters: myself, husband, andrew 15 and Brooke 9
I want to begin first of all with a warning about my once raved reviews of Getaway today. This is the second time we went through them. The first time, we bought tickets and hotel..this time just tickets.
About the tickets....We went to the ticket gates on Sunday and for some reason Disney couldnt find them in the system......do not panic..do not.....panic. The ticket agent gets the supervisor who then hands us a paper with a phone number and says "Good luck, they only have one person working on Sundays". They do have a guarantee on their website...so we call them...and call and call and call.....2 crying kids, one mad husband and a very sad me.....15 hours later recieves a call from Getaway...apparantly the phones were down all day. I was not about to buy more tickets when I already spent 600 dollars...so we opted to just buy another night hotel and get ahold of the Getaway people on Monday. :(....Getaway did feel very bad however....they told us to go Monday morning to customer service...we went and again...no tickets! At this point, I was so upset...they sent us to another customer service, finally to a ticket booth where they found the tickets in the computer system! Getaway gave us a 75 dollar credit which was to go towards the extra night. I have to say that I will not ever get tickets electronically again, this was so stressful of a first day! :( And to top it off.......we went to ESPN zone a day early and they refused to put the NASCAR race on for my husband! :( They said sorry when I complained and gave the kids 350 in credits! That was very nice too.
So as you can see...things started off yucky...but gets better as the days go along.
About the hotel....Hojo's new water area was a life saver for the very hot, and un expected October weather of 100 degrees! YIKES!!! The garden pool was also very nice. I wish that the splash area stayed open a little later...closes at dusk, I do understand there are rooms right next to the play area. As well, we had a room right next to freeway....however did not hear a thing...at all!!! Concrete walls! Interior corridors. A little bit of a slow elevator. Housekeeping was awesome and when the kids spilled water all over the bed...they came right away and changed everything! Clean towels always at the pools. A few complaints...front desk staff seemed very confused and dis organized...and the beds according to my husband need massive upgrades. Apparantly the premium rooms do have new beds, hopefully they will get them in all rooms. The whole feel to this hotel was very calming, clean and beautiful flowers and trees all around. I would stay again, however would ask for a premium bed next time.
About the food....oh my dear friends who recommended Whitewater snacks chicken nachos...yummo my favorite! Huge portion and sooooo good!! We all shared one and filled us up quick! Mimmies...:( sorry all who love this place...we had an aweful experience...we did get take out, and they were busy....but......chicken salad only had 4 diced pieces of chicken and the "soup" was only broth..they must have got the bottom of the barrel...and they gave us an upside down, broken up muffin :( We did give it another shot and had breakfast...Brooke loved the tea, however nothing too special :( I was sad about this, I wanted to tell you all how wonderful it was! :( Joe's crab shack was a hit, and alot of fun. The endless fries at Red Robins...great for a growing 15 year old boy...Shakey's pizza down the street one night, good, cheap and quiet!
About the parks...well....hot, but lovely as always. And finally I went to meet the Disneyland nurse! It was my dream at graduation speech, I spoke in front of 1,500 people and said..."Im going to Disneyland!" hehe..the Disney nurse was nice :)
About the "DREAM" oh yes.....we finally won a dream!! well, two really. The first one came from a lovely family leaving the parks after their 4 day stay. We are one of the famalies that always give away our fast passes, or our extra tickets for things etc....a happy family walked up to me and asked if we would like some food coupons, since they were going home...of course I do!! hehe...they gave us 70 dollars in Mickey food money! Wasnt that so sweet? Then.......as we get off splash mountain...I see them, they see me...and I am jumping up and down.....before my kids even see what is going on..."we won, we won...we finally won something!" No, it was not the dream suite, nor a dream fast pass.......It was........Lanyards with 2 special pins a piece! I was so excited to win, you would have thought I just won the lottery!! It was, very exciting!!!
About Miley's birthday on Sunday. My 9 year old...a HUGE Miley fan, felt her first feelings of...jelousy :(. I had to explain that it was not Miley's choice to only have so many people get to go to her party...had to explain why we could not go this time...but, we did however get to listen to the music coming from across the street as we were at HoJO..and we could hear Miley singing with her dad! And the fireworks went off at midnight, after we were all asleep....it was quite scarey waking up to Mileys fireworks by the way!
About the crazy weather in LA....beware, and pack for...EVERYTHING! Tues, and Wed so hot, we had red faces and couldnt wait to get back to the cool lull of the air conditioning, then Thursday....cooler with wind, and clouds looking like they wanted to rain! We got to the Pixar parade, water squiriting everywhere and kids a bit cold...however parade was fun and worth the occasional squirt gun sprays! PS...wear sun screen even on the cloudier days.
About the rides. The new toy story ride was fun, only waited about 40 minutes. There is a smell added to haunted mansion...I dont want to say as to not ruin for you all...it was un expected and fun, I will tell you that! :) If you really want to know, send me a PM and I will tell you about it. I bought the Disneyland soundtrack and am making a movie of pictures with the music of all of our combined trips for the kids for Christmas.....just hearing the sounds of the different rides, take me back to each cherished moment.
Well, I guess this is all...wanted to give you all more details, however..back to reality it is for me....12 hour shifts at the hospital and todays ambulance ride sirens and lights 60 miles down Highway 5, reminded me of Space mountain...sick stomach and all!! hehe...
God Bless you all, and thank you for reading, hope my information helps you all in some way. Feel free to PM me if you have any furthur questions!
Take care!
Disney Dreams!
-Christine