Travel dates: October 11-16, 2008
Travel method: By car from Northern California
Resort: DLR
Accommodations: Howard Johnson
Ages Represented in Group: Me (35), Husband (36), Niece (7), Son (3.5), Daughter (1)
Disney Resort Experience Represented in Group: All (except niece) very experienced

(Note: The park was very crowded on Sat 10/11 and Sun 10/12, which we expected, but in many cases you’ll see that the rides we rode had little to no wait time. Just wanted to clarify that this is because we chose to only ride the rides with the short waits. Our rule is usually a 10 min wait or shorter for us to get in line for a ride.)


SATURDAY 10/11:

Arrived at HoJos around 3pm on Sat Oct 11th after a 9 hr drive from Northern California. We checked in and when we asked how busy the hotel was, the gal said that they were completely booked. There was still plenty of parking at that time. We had previously requested a first floor room in bldg 6 and they were able to accommodate us. (Bldg 6 is our favorite bldg on the property because it’s away from the loud pirate cove area, away from the smoking area and seems quieter than bldg 2. We’ve never stayed in bldg 1, so I’m not sure what that one is like.) Anyhow, we unpacked and were at DL by 4:30pm.

We spent about 4 hours at the park, as the kids were ready for bed by 8pm, and during that time we took it easy, walked slowly, enjoyed the Halloween decorations, and rode the following: Jungle Cruise (5 min wait), Tarzan’s tree house, Buzz (5 min) and Winnie the Pooh (5 min). We also went the Pooh’s Corner shop specifically to try the Tigger Tails, which I’d read about at another forum. I’d never been in that shop before because I thought it was just shirts/souvenirs - I didn’t realize they sold treats as well. My husband loved the Tigger Tails, but they were too sweet for me.

We walked back to the HoJos around 8:15pm. The two older kids passed out immediately, but the baby thought it was party time. She finally passed out around 11pm and just about at that time, the folks in the room above us decided that it was party time. I wasn’t ready for bed and the noise didn’t wake the kids, so I let them have their fun for about an hour. But by 12 am, I figured it was time to call the front desk. The noises we heard were so weird – not loud voices or yelling or anything, just lots of furniture being banged around, walls being bumped, and feet running from one side of the room to another. It sounded like a bunch of kids wrestling and body slamming each other into furniture. About 5 minutes after our phone call, the noises stopped and all was quiet.

SUNDAY 10/12:

Spent the first ½ of the day with family in SoCal. Hit the DL turn styles at 6pm. The wait board showed a 90 min wait for HM. We were sad to see that, but figured we would go ahead and get fastpasses for it. The return time was crazy late (for the kids), something like 10-11pm, but we went ahead and got four of them. Depressed by the reality that we would probably go another day without riding HM, we did the only thing we could do at that point – bought more Tigger Tails ☺ . Then we rode Winnie the Pooh multiple times (no wait), Jungle Cruise (no wait), Tarzan and POTC multiple times (no wait).

Around 9:30ish, I rode Splash Mountain by myself (no wait). I got a bit wet on my right side, but not crazy-wet. After the big drop at the end, we were cruising along in the boat and I heard my husband yell my name. I looked up, towards the sound of his voice, didn’t see him but waved anyways. I couldn’t figure out where his voice was coming from because I knew that he and the kids were waiting for me on the walkway right at the base of the big drop, on the Rivers of America side. You all probably know this already, but it turns out that after the big drop on SM, the logs go beneath that walkway (towards the Rivers of Am) before circling back towards the loading area. If you peek over the side of the rail/rocks, you can see people floating past you in the logs. Duh, why hadn’t I ever realized this?

After SM, we did some shopping and then decided to call it a night, as the kids were pooped. We gave our HM fastpasses away to some very happy strangers and walked back to the hotel.


MONDAY 10/13:

During the walk to DL we noticed that it was very windy. My niece and I were dying to go on HM, so that was to be our first ride of the day. I love the Nightmare before Christmas movie (and all of Tim Burton’s stuff, really) and had been on the Nightmare-decorated HM ride, but only once, and that was a couple years back. So, I was eager to see it again and hoped to ride it multiple times.

We arrived at the park early and ended up just a few rows back from the rope drop. After the rope dropped, we went straight to HM, rode it in the first group of the day and then rode it about another 4 (I think?) times before it got too busy for us to wait. We also grabbed HM fastpasses to use later. Next my husband and niece rode Pirates a few times in a row (no wait) while the younger kids and I had a rest at the tables in front of the Royal Street Veranda. Had our first taste of the New Orlean’s fritters which are served with an appley-custard dipping sauce. These were awesome and reminded me of Malasadas that I’ve had in Hawaii.

Around 11am, we went to check out Astroblasters again, the line was short, so we rode that a few times and then had lunch at the Tomorrowland Terrace and also caught the 11:35am Jedi show. Side note – can somebody tell me if they put crackrock in the Yogurt Parfaits at DL? These parfaits are the best I’ve ever had, chunks of bananas, strawberries, blueberries, granola and low fat yogurt. Sounds simple enough, but they are SO good, it’s crazy.

After the jedi show, we rode Astro Orbiters and then walked back to the hotel. Our goal was to see the fireworks show that night, as we had missed it the previous two nights, so we wanted the kids to have a long mid-day rest.

More to come….

MONDAY 10/13 (evening):

After a long rest, we headed back to the resort around 4:30pm with our Quiznos sandwiches. We went straight into DCA and found our spot for the Pixar parade, just in front of the grizzly waterfall. The kids loved the parade. We noticed that some of the characters weren't on stilts as they normally are (the chefs in ratatouille) and one other group of characters that I can't recall at the moment. Also, the walking stick dude wasn't there at all. I'm guessing these changes were due to it being a windy day?

After the parade, I can't quite remember what we did. (The days sort of blended into eachother at that point.) I think we went back to DL and rode some fantasyland rides (dumbo, teacups, alice) and then watched the 7pm Parade of Dreams. We were warned over the PA at that point that there were high winds and that the fireworks show might be cancelled. After the parade, we used our HM fastpasses and then Jungle Cruise again, and then I'm not sure what we did. But I do know that around 9:10, we staked out a spot in the hub area in hopes that the fireworks show would be on but after two more announcements indicating the winds were still strong, they did end up canceling. No biggie, we decided to walk around a bit while crowds dispersed and then we got some ice cream at what we call "the big green elephant ice cream place" on main street (I don't remember the real name of it). Then we walked back to the hotel. Kids passed out in the stroller and my 7 year old niece was a real trooper, considering the amount of walking we'd done.

TUESDAY 10/14:

On Tuesday morning, it took all of my restraint not to wake everyone up and rush them around the room to get ready so we could be at the turn styles when the park opened. Instead, I let everyone sleep in and then we got ready at a leisurely pace while watching PBS. We'd had a busy few days and the kids (read: husband) deserved a slow paced morning. I think we ended up at the DL turn styles around 10:30am (my kids don't sleep in very late). We went straight to HM, got fastpasses and I think we rode it once as well. Then we just barely missed meeting Jack, as we tried to get in line we were denied by a CM, who said that he'd be returning at noon WITH SALLY. We were stoked. We had 45min to kill, so I staked out a spot on a bench with the baby while the husband and older kids went on POTC. Jack and Sally came back, just as we'd been told they would and so we got in line. Jack's voice, mannerisms and body language were SO convincing. He was awesome! Sally seemed a bit flat compared to him. I know she's a quiet character (we have and love the movie) but I guess I expected her to be a bit more talkative. She was really nice, but Jack totally stoled the show. My son was so impressed by Jack, it was such a special Disney moment for us.

More to come when I have time....

TUESDAY 10/14, continued

After meeting Jack and Sally, I think we went to Zocalo for lunch. Husband and I each ordered the Hacienda Chicken Caesar salad, as usual, and the kids had bean and cheese burritos. And we splurged (calorie-wise) and shared a bag of the cinnamon crisp chips (not sure exactly what they're called on the menu, but they're flour tortilla chips dusted in cinnamon and sugar).

After lunch, we walked back to the hotel for a rest. As we walked toward the exit through main street, we caught the end of the Alice and Mad hatter show at Coke Corner. It looked like the Mad hatter was leading a game of musical chairs, the participants were random kids pulled from the crowd. I had never seen this show before. The gal behind the counter said that they typically do the performance around 2:30pm each day. My husband loves the mad hatter, so we'll have to try to catch it from the beginning some time.

Rested at the hotel for a couple of hours and then went to DCA in time for the Pixar Play Parade. Got sprayed by lots of water, more than the day before, as it was warmer on this day. And the characters were back on their stilts (Linquini guys, walking stick and jumping flowers), so that was cool. Afterwards we went to the Bug's Land area and rode the kiddie rides - The rides were all walk on or 5 min waits.

Next we went back to DL for fantasyland rides. I think we rode the carousel, Mr. Toads, Alice, Teacups and then we went to Toontown. It was about 45 minutes before Toontown was to close, so we went straight to Mickey's house (he was home!) and took our time, enjoying all of the detail in the decor. Took lots of photos of the kids, they especially loved laying in Pluto's bed. Met Mickey and took some pics. He gave the kids kisses and I got a hug. Then we spent the next 30 minutes exploring Toontown and having a snack. Afterwards, we went back to the hotel because we knew we had an early morning and the kids were knackered.

WEDNESDAY 10/15 our last day at DLR

We had 7:40 reservations at Minnie and Friends Plaza Inn character breakfast. We showed up at the gates around 7am and there were some serious lines already forming, which I had expected. We walked over to gate 5, where there is usually a sign with "Minnie & Friends Plaza Inn Character Breakfast", or something to that effect, letting folks know which gate to line up at, since it's not an Early Entry morning. There was no sign this time around, so we lined up at the shortest existing line (gate 9, I think). Then I called Disney Dining to ask which gate to line up at and was told that there was no designated gate, just get in the regular line. Well, I knew this wasn't right, because we've done the Minnie brekky 4 other times, and there was always a specific gate opened for folks with reservations there. Anyhow, 5 minutes later, a Plaza Inn employee started handing out breakfast badges to folks standing near gate 5, so we went over there and got in that line, after confirming with her that we were in the right spot.

Phew, got into the restaurant around 7:30 and had a great time, as usual. This time around we met Minnie, Pooh, Eeyore, Captain Hook, Rafikki, Gepetto, Chip and Dale, and a Fairy Godmother. We had a great time and really enjoyed sitting next to the windows adjacent to the Astro Orbiter ride. We love having breakfast hear on mornings that are non-EE mornings because after 45min-an hour of eating, we leave the restaurant and the park has only been open for 15-30 minutes at that point, so it's not crowded yet.

After brekky, we rode Astro Orbitor and then rode Astroblasters a couple of times. Afterwards, we met Buzz as he was wandering through Tomorrowland. Then we went back to Fantasyland and rode various rides. I think we went on Peter Pan (20 min wait) and then we caught the Woody's roundup show at the Thunder Ranch. That was fun; Woody, Jessie, and Bullseye singing and dancing while a cowboy hosts the show. Afterwards, we met Jessie and the cowboy stuck around to entertain the kids with yodeling lessons.

After the ranch, it was time for some tigger tails (I told you, my husband is addicted to them), so we headed to Pooh's corner. Rode Winnie the Pooh and ate chocolate. Took pics of the kids in front of the hunny pots. Got fastpasses for HM and rode POTC. Then we had dinner somewhere...not sure where. Then we killed time before the Parade of Dreams by riding the train and then monorail. We were tired, so these were perfect rides for us at that point in our day/trip. Afterwards, we watched the parade of dreams, loved it, as usual.

Then we headed to NOS for our final rides of our trip. We rode POTC because it was my niece's favorite ride. Then we used our fastpasses for HM but while we were waiting in line, a gal in an ECV got stuck trying to do a 3 point turn in a small space, so we had to wait for her to get un-stuck. The CM thanked us for our patience and told us to keep our fastpasses and use them for later, which I thought was super nice of her. So, that meant back to back HM rides and then the final ride of the night was to be POTC, because we asked my niece what ride should be our final ride of the trip and (surprise!) she chose Pirates. After this ride, we went to the emporium shop again, bought a few more things and then walked back to our hotel, completely exhausted but already thinking about planning our next trip!

Thanks for reading this far and have fun, if you're heading to the parks any time soon,
Leslie

Thanks for the TripReport ... I really enjoyed reading it ... as I think about Disneyland and my next trip ... :cool:

Then we headed to NOS for our final rides of our trip. We rode POTC because it was my niece's favorite ride. Then we used our fastpasses for HM but while we were waiting in line, a gal in an ECV got stuck trying to do a 3 point turn in a small space, so we had to wait for her to get un-stuck. The CM thanked us for our patience and told us to keep our fastpasses and use them for later, which I thought was super nice of her.

Leslie

I love hearing stories like that! CM's do so many little things for people and it seems like they often get overlooked! I'm glad you had a little magic!

I love Tigger Tails too! It's one of those treats I just have to have every time we go! :p