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View Full Version : First Ever Trip Report - 4/21 to 4/25/10



DebT
05-05-2010, 06:22 PM
Thursday, April 21
Cast of Characters: Me, DH, DD-17, DS-7, Sister, Niece-4

Left drizzly weather in Modesto and enjoyed more sprinkles and some rain all the way to Anaheim. There was even snow on the Grapevine. Got to HoJos around 2:30 p.m. It was our first ever stay and we were very impressed with the size of the rooms and overall atmosphere. Our family’s room was ready, but not my S’s and N4. DH and small kids decided to swim while S waited for the room. DD and I left immediately for DL. First ride of the day was Space – only a 10 minute wait. We road Indy and Haunted when we were joined by DH and DS. Then rode Thunder twice and Pirates before dinner at the French Market. Wait times were no more than 10 minutes, most of the rides we walked right on.

Landmark event of the day: DS rode Space for the first time. He originally decided he would try Space after he turned 8, but seemed a little embarrassed that his 4-year-old cousin would ride Space. He worked up his courage in line and was pretty nervous. When we were boarding Space I notice a man in front of us having problems with the lap bar. A CM was assisting him, but finally moved the train to the left!!! We had never been back stage. I was totally excited and my son was absolutely mystified! Apparently the man was so tall the safety bar would not engage. We walked through the sound room to return to the queue area. Boarded for the second time. DS was still VERY nervous. About mid way through the ride, he relaxed and started screaming “Oh Yeah!” Space is now his new favorite ride!
PS for the Day: Noticed the key ring was missing from the dog’s mouth in Pirates. His mouth was wide open but empty.

Friday, April 22
Our family was in line by 7:25 a.m. for park opening at 8 a.m. S and N4 joined us later in the morning. My sister thinks I’m nuts for getting up so early. Our first ride of the day was Space. At rope drop, DD and DS walked as fast as they could to Space. They were thrilled to be the first people on Space that day in Row 1. DH and DS then met up with friends from DS’s school. DD and I explored and shopped. All of us met up later in the morning for Splash Mountain. Earlier we grabbed fast passes. With the wait only 10 minutes we rode stand by the first time and then used the fast passes. DD sat in front both times and was absolutely soaked. Other highlights included dinner at Carnation on Main Street. Yummy! Disney was having technical difficulties with Alice and Peter Pan that evening. Right before we were on Alice we noticed a cast member on the ride. During the ride, I noticed you could not see the hedgehog (correct animal?) after it was hit (crochet ball) by the queen. There was just a blur. Alice was closed down right after we disembarked. Peter was down for about 15 minutes - we remained in line. During the ride I noticed that Smee’s voice was definitely off. It had been fine earlier in the day.

PS: The key ring was back in the dog’s mouth on Pirates today.

Saturday, April 23
Spent the day at DCA. Niece (18) joined us from UC Riverside. Got to the park by 9am to exchange our GADGAD certificates for passes and purchase a ticket for N18. I have a Premium AP, but the rest of the family all have Deluxe. I chose the pin set and was really impressed by the quality. I hadn’t been too excited by the photographs, but thought it looked much nicer in person and was pretty heavy. Definitely a keeper! Our gang went to Soarin at 9:30, and then raced to Toy Story once the park opened. Sis said it was the first and last time she’ll probably open a park. We really enjoyed the day. Highlights included: We rode Grizzly twice. Grabbed a fast pass then waited in stand by for 40 minutes, rode, then used the fast passes. DH and DD were soaked! I was the family chicken and wore a $1.98 poncho. We also saw Aladdin for the first time. It was wonderful. Genie is hysterical. Sorry I didn’t see it years before now.

Sunday, April 24
Opened the park to ride Matterhorn. It was the first day Matterhorn was open during our trip. Man is that ride uncomfortable. DD and DS wanted to ride together, so that left me and my husband in the “cuddle” seats. Sorry, but cuddle seats sound fun and this was just painful. Once my husband was seated, there was barely enough room for me. The ride seemed really slow and rough. It just wasn’t fun. Even the kids were disappointed. DS insisted we ride Space. I was determined to enjoy a parfait today and DD wanted French toast sticks. Tomorrowland Terrace was closed this trip and we really missed being able to stop there for a morning snack. The kids and I headed to the Hauf Brau while DH went shopping. DD was thrilled – her French toast sticks were on the menu. My parfait was not. I went all the way to the Main Street bakery and grabbed the LAST parfait. (On Friday, there weren’t any left when I went searching!!!) We finished up with two last rides – Thunder and Alice- then left the park by 10a.m. We were on the road back home by 10:40 a.m.

It was really a great trip. Thanks for reading!

JGvaldeezy
05-07-2010, 03:16 PM
I'm so glad someone besides DH and I noticed the keys were missing on Pirates! I was freaking out haha. We rode it when they were there and after they'd been taken the same day it was weird.

DebT
05-07-2010, 04:39 PM
Cool you saw it too!! It was really weird to see the dog's mouth hanging open with no keys in sight. Glad they were back the next day.

DwarfPlanet
05-11-2010, 07:50 AM
Glad DS ended up having a good time on Space. The first time my sons rode it they did not like it. Of course that was when it was abit more jerky than it is today. Now its their favorite ride.

Oh man you did miss out if this was your first time at Aladdin. That is one of our must sees everytime we visit. We are going to be sorry to see it go after August.

Yes my wife dislikes matterhorn also for she says it beats the heck out of her and we are not fans of the cuddle seat arrangement. Looking forward to see how the new bobsleds work out.

Glad you all had a great time!!!!!

yellowrosedtxn
05-11-2010, 09:31 AM
It sounds like you had a wonderful time! I can't wait to go. Well, this year it is WDW but next year... Back to Disneyland!!!

Cyberkang
07-22-2010, 03:37 PM
Opened the park to ride Matterhorn. It was the first day Matterhorn was open during our trip. Man is that ride uncomfortable. DD and DS wanted to ride together, so that left me and my husband in the “cuddle” seats. Sorry, but cuddle seats sound fun and this was just painful.

Yeah, my wife and I did the "cuddle seat" on our first ride, during our first evening in the park... and you are correct - it was pretty rough. But it went much better on our second ride, when we were more prepared for where the turns and rough spots were. It'd been 20+ years for both of us since riding the Matterhorn, so we'd forgotten all the rough spots. Definitely want to hold on to the vehicle rather than on to each other!:p