disney4iv
02-08-2010, 04:10 PM
TRAVEL DATES- January 30th -February 3rd 2010
TRAVEL METHOD- Drove our minivan from Lodi to DL
ACCOMODATIONS- Howard Johnson
AGES- myself 30, DH 29
RESORT EXPERIENCE- our last trip was October of 2009, when we upgraded to AP's for the first time! Previous trips: June 2008, October 2005, and a few trips for both of us as kids.
COMMENTS- This was our anniversary trip, our first trip to the park without our kids.
What a great time we had on our anniversary vacation. I don't know how many people asked me "You're going to Disneyland without your kids??" and "You want to go to Disneyland for your anniversary???" The answer is yes and yes.
DAY 1 Saturday-
We left Lodi around 6:15 Saturday morning. First saying goodbye to our son, who happened to wake up. Decided it best not to wake our daughter (we had said goodbye the night before). We were on the road and made our first stop at Howard Rd. off of I-5 to grab breakfast. Our next stop wasn't until right before the grapvine. Had to make a potty stop, which obviously some drivers did not do. We saw two guys peeing along the grapevine, and they didn't even try to hide it! We cut over from 5 to 210 to 57 and then took Ball to Hojo's. The traffic wasn't bad at all. We arrived at the Hojo's around 12:30, which was too early to check in, so we decided to head over to DL. It was so nice to not have to worry about strollers, or backpacks. All I had was my camera and lanyard around my neck!
First Stop-Pirates (always the 1st ride, and we love front row)
next over to Big Thunder (which we like back row)
we then headed to Coke Corner for a jalapeno cheese pretzal and soda
Buzz- my goal this trip was to beat my husband at either Buzz or Toy Story, let's just say it didn't happen. You will have to stay tuned to see if I can kick his bootie later..........
Space Mtn
time to hop over to DCA
rode Screamin'- We LOVE front row
then my DH got me on Maliboomer for the first time. I didn't take off my camera and lanyard, so they both flew up inside my barf guard! If he ever gets me on it again, I will have to put them in the basket.
next we went over to ToT, which I love. I guess it is kinds weird, cause I will ride ToT any day, but I never have wanted to ride the Maliboomer.
After Tower we decided to head back to the hotel to check in. The employees were all very friendly and the room was clean. The only thing we really had an issue with was how thin the walls were ( we could hear our neighbors peeing!) which is to be expected in an older hotel. Other than that our stay was great!
After unpacking all of our clothes we decided to go to Mimi's for dinner. We have heard so many good things about Mimi's and were very excited to try it. We were not disappointed. Our food was excellent and our server was awesome (Pinto was his name). I had the honey dijon salmon with asparagas and mashed potatoes and DH had a southwestern shrimp dish which he loved. The bread they serve is great, and we ended with dessert. I had a chocolate brownie, and DH had choc mousse with a strawberry sauce on top. Both very good.
After our fantastic dinner we headed back over to DCA
rode Toy Story Mania- nope, didn't win, but it was close. I was only down about 10,000
next we got a coffee and hopped over to DL again. We never park hop this much with the kiddos!
Over at DL we rode Indy
Then we went on the Matterhorn, since it was going to be closing soon for the refurb. The last time we rode the Matterhorn ( on the left side of the Mtn), it was really jerky. This time we rode over on the right side, and had the smoothest ride ever. Really enjoyable!
We then decided to go stake out a spot for the fireworks, it was around 8:15, and I wanted to get a good spot. We snagged one right in front of the castle. I love the Remember fireworks, so it was a great way to start the vacation and a wonderful end to our first night! Went back to hotel to catch some zzzzzz's.
DAY 2 Sunday-
Sunday morning we grabbed a muffin from the hotel store, and bought our coffee in the park. I really liked the cinnamon tea latte. It was sweet, but good.
Went to ride Peter Pan- line wasn't too bad, maybe 15 min. or so.
hopped over to DCA
Toy Story- nope, still didn't win!
Screamin'
next ride was DH's idea- Grizzly- Let me just tell you how nice and warm I was before the ride. I was dry. Exiting the ride was a different story. We didn't have a dry spot on us. Even my underwear were soaked! My hair looked like I had just taken a shower. We tried to find a spot to stand in the sun, didn't work. Tried walking to DTD to possibly air dry. Nope, that didn't work either. So, we headed back to the hotel to change. Ahhhhh, warm, dry clothes. Nothin' like it. I had to pry the wet clothes off of my cold chaffed body! (Let's just say that Splash was not on our list of rides) This will be one of those moments we will always remember:).
After we dried ourselves we decided to try the tortilla tour at DCA. It was short and sweet. The tortillas were fresh off the line. Then we did the boudin tour. It was kinda cool watching them make the bread and it was yummy! It smelled so good that we went over to Pacific wharf cafe for lunch. I tried the oriental chicken salad and DH had the broccoli cheddar soup. Both really good! We grabbed a waterfront seat and watched the ducks below. Had a couple of kids come over to feed the ducks paper. What the heck? I have no idea where their parents were. I had to tell them that ducks don't eat paper, and that they were littering.
Blue Sky was next, have to see what's coming soon! I can't wait for "Car's Land", but wish they would call it "Radiator Springs".
Next stop-It's tough to be a bug- I confessed to my DH that I always sit forward for the bee sting. I have never felt it.
Muppets 3D
hopped back over to DL
grabbed FP's for Big Thunder
Small World-made me think of the kids
rode BTMR
grabbed FP's for SM
went back to hotel for a bit, then headed to ESPN Zone for dinner. Dinner was ok, nothing great. We had good drinks though. Ended up with leftovers, but we wanted to ride ToT, so they ended up riding with us! Took the leftovers back to hotel then went back to DL
walked on to Autopia (fireworks were getting ready to begin), DH let me drive, said it was the only time he would let me drive while he is in the car! Well, my eyes were on the sky, so I gave him a pretty jerky ride!
next rode Nemo- about a 5 min wait.
Went to use FP's on SM, but it was closed
got a coffee instead and sat on main street to people watch ( Ha Ha you have a stroller! :p)
By this time our feet hurt real bad. I think you walk twice as much when you don't have your kids with you. No waiting around to switch off, not as many potty breaks, you just go go go.
DAY 3 Monday-
Rode RR to New Orleans
HM
Pirates
Big Thunder
Buzz- I am beginning to think I won't reach my goal!
SM-used FP's from night before when ride was down
Ate at Red Rockets- I had the Chicken Fuscilli DH had pizza. I loved the pasta, pizza was ok.
went for an ice cream at Gibson Girl- Both had 1 scoop choc ice cream in a waffle cone dipped in choc/peanuts yuuuuummm. Went to town square and sat by flag pole to eat and watch goofy.
hopped to DCA
Soarin'
Toy Story- Nope, I cannot beat him, but I will never let him know this.
Screamin'
Downtown Disney
Marcellines-lollipop for DD, huge jawbreaker for DS
Lego store- star wars lego watch for DS
World of Disney- Shirt for DD, Shirt for my dad, pins for my mom (they are the ones watching our kids, and therefore making this trip possible) purchased the throw for 15.99 or whatever it was.
Back to hotel- ate leftovers from ESPN then decided to go the 6:20 showing of Avatar 3D at AMC. I was surprised, a pretty good flick!
DAY 4 Tuesday-
Our Anniversary (9 years) :). We started our day by having breakfast at Mimi's. Once again, great food and service. I love Mimi's! The server gave us a piece of cake for our special day, which we could not eat, too stuffed. He boxed it up, and we took it back to our room.
Went to City Hall to grab our anniversary buttons
rode RR to Tomorrowland
Innoventions
rode SM and Grabbed FP's
Buzz- OOOOOOHHHHHH YEAHHHH baby! I kicked DH's boootay! I got 231,500 and DH got 220,100 ( and no, he didn't let me win because it was our anniversary):D
Took my winning face to Frontierland to try and catch Billy Hill, but after sitting and waiting, realized they weren't playing on this day. It was going to be Laughing Stock, which we have already seen. I was bummed, still haven't seen Billy Hill. Oh well, will have to catch it in June with the kids.
Tiki Room
hopped to DCA
Toy Story- I let him win because it was our anniversary!
Screamin'
Mickey's Fun Wheel- I don't like the swinging gondolas. I just wanted to see the construction
churro time, people watched again
hopped back to DL
used SM FP's which we didn't need. It was literally walk on. Never seen the line like this.
We then decided to call it quits. We went back to the hotel to rest before our anniversary dinner at Clearman's North Wood's Inn. ( Thank you to all of you for your recommendations). The food was awesome. They brought out our 2 salads and cheese bread which were oh soooo good. We both ordered the fillet which was cooked to perfection and butter tender. The baked potato and rice were great. (potato was huge!) We were stuffed to the gills! When we got back to the hotel, I talked DH into walking one more time over to DTD. Upon arriving at the scene, we heard screaming girls everywhere. CM's were guiding everyone with their lights. What the heck? We asked the closest CM and they said Nick Jonas was playing in front of Disney 365 Studio. Crazy! These girls were going wild. We took our full bellies to stuff them even more with Haggen Daaz, then headed back to the hotel to start packing for our trip home.
Overall we had a great trip. A much different experience without the kids. But yet, there is nothing like seeing Disneyland through your children's eyes. I guess that just proves why it really is the Happiest Place on Earth! :D
TRAVEL METHOD- Drove our minivan from Lodi to DL
ACCOMODATIONS- Howard Johnson
AGES- myself 30, DH 29
RESORT EXPERIENCE- our last trip was October of 2009, when we upgraded to AP's for the first time! Previous trips: June 2008, October 2005, and a few trips for both of us as kids.
COMMENTS- This was our anniversary trip, our first trip to the park without our kids.
What a great time we had on our anniversary vacation. I don't know how many people asked me "You're going to Disneyland without your kids??" and "You want to go to Disneyland for your anniversary???" The answer is yes and yes.
DAY 1 Saturday-
We left Lodi around 6:15 Saturday morning. First saying goodbye to our son, who happened to wake up. Decided it best not to wake our daughter (we had said goodbye the night before). We were on the road and made our first stop at Howard Rd. off of I-5 to grab breakfast. Our next stop wasn't until right before the grapvine. Had to make a potty stop, which obviously some drivers did not do. We saw two guys peeing along the grapevine, and they didn't even try to hide it! We cut over from 5 to 210 to 57 and then took Ball to Hojo's. The traffic wasn't bad at all. We arrived at the Hojo's around 12:30, which was too early to check in, so we decided to head over to DL. It was so nice to not have to worry about strollers, or backpacks. All I had was my camera and lanyard around my neck!
First Stop-Pirates (always the 1st ride, and we love front row)
next over to Big Thunder (which we like back row)
we then headed to Coke Corner for a jalapeno cheese pretzal and soda
Buzz- my goal this trip was to beat my husband at either Buzz or Toy Story, let's just say it didn't happen. You will have to stay tuned to see if I can kick his bootie later..........
Space Mtn
time to hop over to DCA
rode Screamin'- We LOVE front row
then my DH got me on Maliboomer for the first time. I didn't take off my camera and lanyard, so they both flew up inside my barf guard! If he ever gets me on it again, I will have to put them in the basket.
next we went over to ToT, which I love. I guess it is kinds weird, cause I will ride ToT any day, but I never have wanted to ride the Maliboomer.
After Tower we decided to head back to the hotel to check in. The employees were all very friendly and the room was clean. The only thing we really had an issue with was how thin the walls were ( we could hear our neighbors peeing!) which is to be expected in an older hotel. Other than that our stay was great!
After unpacking all of our clothes we decided to go to Mimi's for dinner. We have heard so many good things about Mimi's and were very excited to try it. We were not disappointed. Our food was excellent and our server was awesome (Pinto was his name). I had the honey dijon salmon with asparagas and mashed potatoes and DH had a southwestern shrimp dish which he loved. The bread they serve is great, and we ended with dessert. I had a chocolate brownie, and DH had choc mousse with a strawberry sauce on top. Both very good.
After our fantastic dinner we headed back over to DCA
rode Toy Story Mania- nope, didn't win, but it was close. I was only down about 10,000
next we got a coffee and hopped over to DL again. We never park hop this much with the kiddos!
Over at DL we rode Indy
Then we went on the Matterhorn, since it was going to be closing soon for the refurb. The last time we rode the Matterhorn ( on the left side of the Mtn), it was really jerky. This time we rode over on the right side, and had the smoothest ride ever. Really enjoyable!
We then decided to go stake out a spot for the fireworks, it was around 8:15, and I wanted to get a good spot. We snagged one right in front of the castle. I love the Remember fireworks, so it was a great way to start the vacation and a wonderful end to our first night! Went back to hotel to catch some zzzzzz's.
DAY 2 Sunday-
Sunday morning we grabbed a muffin from the hotel store, and bought our coffee in the park. I really liked the cinnamon tea latte. It was sweet, but good.
Went to ride Peter Pan- line wasn't too bad, maybe 15 min. or so.
hopped over to DCA
Toy Story- nope, still didn't win!
Screamin'
next ride was DH's idea- Grizzly- Let me just tell you how nice and warm I was before the ride. I was dry. Exiting the ride was a different story. We didn't have a dry spot on us. Even my underwear were soaked! My hair looked like I had just taken a shower. We tried to find a spot to stand in the sun, didn't work. Tried walking to DTD to possibly air dry. Nope, that didn't work either. So, we headed back to the hotel to change. Ahhhhh, warm, dry clothes. Nothin' like it. I had to pry the wet clothes off of my cold chaffed body! (Let's just say that Splash was not on our list of rides) This will be one of those moments we will always remember:).
After we dried ourselves we decided to try the tortilla tour at DCA. It was short and sweet. The tortillas were fresh off the line. Then we did the boudin tour. It was kinda cool watching them make the bread and it was yummy! It smelled so good that we went over to Pacific wharf cafe for lunch. I tried the oriental chicken salad and DH had the broccoli cheddar soup. Both really good! We grabbed a waterfront seat and watched the ducks below. Had a couple of kids come over to feed the ducks paper. What the heck? I have no idea where their parents were. I had to tell them that ducks don't eat paper, and that they were littering.
Blue Sky was next, have to see what's coming soon! I can't wait for "Car's Land", but wish they would call it "Radiator Springs".
Next stop-It's tough to be a bug- I confessed to my DH that I always sit forward for the bee sting. I have never felt it.
Muppets 3D
hopped back over to DL
grabbed FP's for Big Thunder
Small World-made me think of the kids
rode BTMR
grabbed FP's for SM
went back to hotel for a bit, then headed to ESPN Zone for dinner. Dinner was ok, nothing great. We had good drinks though. Ended up with leftovers, but we wanted to ride ToT, so they ended up riding with us! Took the leftovers back to hotel then went back to DL
walked on to Autopia (fireworks were getting ready to begin), DH let me drive, said it was the only time he would let me drive while he is in the car! Well, my eyes were on the sky, so I gave him a pretty jerky ride!
next rode Nemo- about a 5 min wait.
Went to use FP's on SM, but it was closed
got a coffee instead and sat on main street to people watch ( Ha Ha you have a stroller! :p)
By this time our feet hurt real bad. I think you walk twice as much when you don't have your kids with you. No waiting around to switch off, not as many potty breaks, you just go go go.
DAY 3 Monday-
Rode RR to New Orleans
HM
Pirates
Big Thunder
Buzz- I am beginning to think I won't reach my goal!
SM-used FP's from night before when ride was down
Ate at Red Rockets- I had the Chicken Fuscilli DH had pizza. I loved the pasta, pizza was ok.
went for an ice cream at Gibson Girl- Both had 1 scoop choc ice cream in a waffle cone dipped in choc/peanuts yuuuuummm. Went to town square and sat by flag pole to eat and watch goofy.
hopped to DCA
Soarin'
Toy Story- Nope, I cannot beat him, but I will never let him know this.
Screamin'
Downtown Disney
Marcellines-lollipop for DD, huge jawbreaker for DS
Lego store- star wars lego watch for DS
World of Disney- Shirt for DD, Shirt for my dad, pins for my mom (they are the ones watching our kids, and therefore making this trip possible) purchased the throw for 15.99 or whatever it was.
Back to hotel- ate leftovers from ESPN then decided to go the 6:20 showing of Avatar 3D at AMC. I was surprised, a pretty good flick!
DAY 4 Tuesday-
Our Anniversary (9 years) :). We started our day by having breakfast at Mimi's. Once again, great food and service. I love Mimi's! The server gave us a piece of cake for our special day, which we could not eat, too stuffed. He boxed it up, and we took it back to our room.
Went to City Hall to grab our anniversary buttons
rode RR to Tomorrowland
Innoventions
rode SM and Grabbed FP's
Buzz- OOOOOOHHHHHH YEAHHHH baby! I kicked DH's boootay! I got 231,500 and DH got 220,100 ( and no, he didn't let me win because it was our anniversary):D
Took my winning face to Frontierland to try and catch Billy Hill, but after sitting and waiting, realized they weren't playing on this day. It was going to be Laughing Stock, which we have already seen. I was bummed, still haven't seen Billy Hill. Oh well, will have to catch it in June with the kids.
Tiki Room
hopped to DCA
Toy Story- I let him win because it was our anniversary!
Screamin'
Mickey's Fun Wheel- I don't like the swinging gondolas. I just wanted to see the construction
churro time, people watched again
hopped back to DL
used SM FP's which we didn't need. It was literally walk on. Never seen the line like this.
We then decided to call it quits. We went back to the hotel to rest before our anniversary dinner at Clearman's North Wood's Inn. ( Thank you to all of you for your recommendations). The food was awesome. They brought out our 2 salads and cheese bread which were oh soooo good. We both ordered the fillet which was cooked to perfection and butter tender. The baked potato and rice were great. (potato was huge!) We were stuffed to the gills! When we got back to the hotel, I talked DH into walking one more time over to DTD. Upon arriving at the scene, we heard screaming girls everywhere. CM's were guiding everyone with their lights. What the heck? We asked the closest CM and they said Nick Jonas was playing in front of Disney 365 Studio. Crazy! These girls were going wild. We took our full bellies to stuff them even more with Haggen Daaz, then headed back to the hotel to start packing for our trip home.
Overall we had a great trip. A much different experience without the kids. But yet, there is nothing like seeing Disneyland through your children's eyes. I guess that just proves why it really is the Happiest Place on Earth! :D