missm
04-10-2007, 08:40 PM
Our trip started out Friday March 30th. We flew from Sea Tac to SNA. Our flight got in 20 minutes early (yea!) We headed to the Ramada Maingate, since we were early we checked in but couldn’t go to our room which was okay since we needed to get going to Laguna Beach for the rehearsal dinner. We were originally going down for Rick’s sisters wedding but decided to make a vacation out of it. I can’t believe the traffic going to Laguna Beach! We ate dinner at a brewery/restaurant called BJ’s. They had awesome pizza and one of the best Caesar salads I have ever had.
Saturday was the day of the wedding so we headed down to Laguna Beach. It was held at this gorgeous spot overlooking the Pacific. It was beautiful; we had dinner at the Beach House. It was really good. We had our choice of filet mignon, blackened mahi mahi or some sort of chicken dish. They were all really good. I would like to go back here and check out the full menu.
Sunday morning finally rolled around (it was so hard staying across the street from Disneyland and not being able to go for 2 days). We had Rick’s niece Anna with us for that day. She was having some separation anxiety so her mom and Joel (the husband) decided they would meet us at Disneyland at noonish. We got up around 7:30 (we had an early night) and got ready to go to DL. We had priority seating for Minnie and friends breakfast for 9:50. We got to the park at 9 so we decided to go on a ride. Well Anna decided she wasn’t going on any rides. So we were in line for a few but had to get out. We then ended up sitting around until our mealtime was there. The character breakfast was awesome. She was so happy meeting all the different characters and getting their autographs. We stayed there for a while after we were done eating then decided we would try the whole ride thing again. No way. She was not doing rides. We tried explaining to her that we had spent a whole lot of money on tickets to come ride the rides but she was not having any of it. We knew that she liked the rides because she came a few years ago at age five and went on all the ones she was tall enough to ride on. Needless to say we sat around for almost two hours trying to get her on rides. Finally her mom and stepdad got there but she refused with them too. We got her on the Storybook land cruise and then on Pirates but she was still not happy in general. Rick and I separated from the group for a while and went on some grown up rides. I was so excited to see his reaction on the rides since he had never been. He was so impressed with the attention to detail Disney puts in the rides. Anna and her parents left around 7:30 and Rick and I enjoyed our first night at the park together.
Monday we went back to DLR. It wasn’t as busy as I thought it would be which was nice. We spent time at both parks. He likes CA much more than DL. It was just awesome listening to him laugh on California Screamin’ He loved Soarin’ but who doesn’t. I was glad he liked It’s Tough to be a Bug since that is one of my favorites. We actually went back to the hotel early that night because we were tired and 24 is on at 9.
Tuesday we went to Universal Studios. I haven’t been since junior high (I think) so it was all new to me. I loved the tram ride but our tram was having issues so we had to stop and have some mechanics take a look at it. There is some really neat stuff on that tour (I don’t want to give any of it away in case someone is planning a trip there and has never been). We went on the Mummy which was so much fun. Back to the Future (almost threw up and I can handle the craziest of roller coasters), Jurassic Park, loved that one. We also went through the House of Horrors, which I highly recommend. I went through to try and get over my fear of scary movies and ended up totally freaked out but laughing the whole time. I liked my time at Universal but next time will probably do another park just to try out different things. We ate at the Saddleback Ranch which is right outside of the exit gates. It was awesome. I was going to post a review on here but couldn’t find a spot for other parks. I had the best blt!! Rick had the ultimate grilled cheese. I got fantastic salad and he had fries. We each had an iced tea and it was only 20 dollars. The atmosphere was great and so was the waitstaff. It looked like it would be fun to hang out there on a weekend night. They have a mechanical bull.
Wednesday we went back to Disneyland to find huge crowds. We had been expecting them though so we just got some fast passes for things we for sure wanted to do at each park and then just strolled around and did some shopping and people watching. It was relaxing in a way not to stress out about what ride to do next. I am usually nutcase on getting tons of rides in but since Rick is such a mellow person he just kind of relaxed me. We ended up back at the hotel around 3:30 to lounge and ended up falling asleep. We woke up and walked over to Hook’s Point for dinner. We went back to CA and did a few more rides before calling it a night.
Thursday we went to Sea World, which was pretty fun. They had a beer tasting that we went to. You choose between 3 different categories, I can’t remember what my category title was but it included all of the flavored beers. My favorite beer I tasted has 400 calories (yes 400!!!) in it for a 16 oz beer, it’s called Tilt. I will never be having that again. Rick did the progressive which leads you from Bud light to Bare Knuckle stout. They pair the beers with different cheeses, fruits, and chocolate. Very fun. We had a great couple from Canada at our table with us. The dolphin show is always my favorite part of Sea World. Anyone who has seen it knows what I mean. I didn’t tell Rick what was going to happen and he laughed so hard. Next time I go down I really want to spend some more time in San Diego. It’s just so relaxed there.
Friday was our last day. We had packed the night before so we were raring to go early. Randomly a friend from high school was there the same time as us so we met up with her and her friend at CA gates at 9:30. We went in and got some mochas (they tasted a lot like peanut butter it was weird) then went to the rope drop to get fast passes to Tower of Terror. I did the speed walk to get those while the rest walked behind. After that we headed to Screamin’ went on that. I love that ride. Especially in the back row. Got fast passes for that after we got off. Headed to the Sun Wheel, my least favorite ride, I always feel like my cage is going to fly off. Then on the Maliboomer. Love it. After that it was time to head across for Billy Hill. We headed back over to CA after lunch and went of Tower of Terror and then Screamin’ again for our last ride.
We got into Sea Tac at 11:20ish and got home at 12:30. It is now Monday night and my body is feeling better so I want to go back already. All in all it was a really great trip and even that bad parts will soon be forgotten because that is how I work. I could not have asked for a better person to be with at the DLR. I think I have made a fan of him, he was on the phone with his dad and I heard him talking about how much detail the rides were and how much fun he had. Sorry this is so long I hope the review help out and enjoy the pictures.
Melissa
Heres a link to my pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/melissadudley79
My reviews:
http://www.mouseplanet.com/cgi/reviews/do/display.cgi?product-sku=dlrcharplazainnminnieandfriends
http://www.mouseplanet.com/cgi/reviews/do/display.cgi?product-sku=dlhhookspointewinecellar
http://www.mouseplanet.com/cgi/reviews/do/display.cgi?product-sku=dlrtpg
http://www.mouseplanet.com/cgi/reviews/do/display.cgi?product-sku=dlrespnzone
http://www.mouseplanet.com/cgi/reviews/do/display.cgi?product-sku=dlcarnationcafe
I also have a review for the Ramada Maingate (loved it) but it hasn't been approved yet.
Also we had the worst experience with Advantage rent-a-car, I will do a review on that horrible place once I get a link for it put up in the ground transportation, but basically after we had already paid for our car up front they wanted to charge us an extra $360 to get the car. If I'm not able to get a link in the reviews on here in a week or so then I will just post the review in a thread.
Saturday was the day of the wedding so we headed down to Laguna Beach. It was held at this gorgeous spot overlooking the Pacific. It was beautiful; we had dinner at the Beach House. It was really good. We had our choice of filet mignon, blackened mahi mahi or some sort of chicken dish. They were all really good. I would like to go back here and check out the full menu.
Sunday morning finally rolled around (it was so hard staying across the street from Disneyland and not being able to go for 2 days). We had Rick’s niece Anna with us for that day. She was having some separation anxiety so her mom and Joel (the husband) decided they would meet us at Disneyland at noonish. We got up around 7:30 (we had an early night) and got ready to go to DL. We had priority seating for Minnie and friends breakfast for 9:50. We got to the park at 9 so we decided to go on a ride. Well Anna decided she wasn’t going on any rides. So we were in line for a few but had to get out. We then ended up sitting around until our mealtime was there. The character breakfast was awesome. She was so happy meeting all the different characters and getting their autographs. We stayed there for a while after we were done eating then decided we would try the whole ride thing again. No way. She was not doing rides. We tried explaining to her that we had spent a whole lot of money on tickets to come ride the rides but she was not having any of it. We knew that she liked the rides because she came a few years ago at age five and went on all the ones she was tall enough to ride on. Needless to say we sat around for almost two hours trying to get her on rides. Finally her mom and stepdad got there but she refused with them too. We got her on the Storybook land cruise and then on Pirates but she was still not happy in general. Rick and I separated from the group for a while and went on some grown up rides. I was so excited to see his reaction on the rides since he had never been. He was so impressed with the attention to detail Disney puts in the rides. Anna and her parents left around 7:30 and Rick and I enjoyed our first night at the park together.
Monday we went back to DLR. It wasn’t as busy as I thought it would be which was nice. We spent time at both parks. He likes CA much more than DL. It was just awesome listening to him laugh on California Screamin’ He loved Soarin’ but who doesn’t. I was glad he liked It’s Tough to be a Bug since that is one of my favorites. We actually went back to the hotel early that night because we were tired and 24 is on at 9.
Tuesday we went to Universal Studios. I haven’t been since junior high (I think) so it was all new to me. I loved the tram ride but our tram was having issues so we had to stop and have some mechanics take a look at it. There is some really neat stuff on that tour (I don’t want to give any of it away in case someone is planning a trip there and has never been). We went on the Mummy which was so much fun. Back to the Future (almost threw up and I can handle the craziest of roller coasters), Jurassic Park, loved that one. We also went through the House of Horrors, which I highly recommend. I went through to try and get over my fear of scary movies and ended up totally freaked out but laughing the whole time. I liked my time at Universal but next time will probably do another park just to try out different things. We ate at the Saddleback Ranch which is right outside of the exit gates. It was awesome. I was going to post a review on here but couldn’t find a spot for other parks. I had the best blt!! Rick had the ultimate grilled cheese. I got fantastic salad and he had fries. We each had an iced tea and it was only 20 dollars. The atmosphere was great and so was the waitstaff. It looked like it would be fun to hang out there on a weekend night. They have a mechanical bull.
Wednesday we went back to Disneyland to find huge crowds. We had been expecting them though so we just got some fast passes for things we for sure wanted to do at each park and then just strolled around and did some shopping and people watching. It was relaxing in a way not to stress out about what ride to do next. I am usually nutcase on getting tons of rides in but since Rick is such a mellow person he just kind of relaxed me. We ended up back at the hotel around 3:30 to lounge and ended up falling asleep. We woke up and walked over to Hook’s Point for dinner. We went back to CA and did a few more rides before calling it a night.
Thursday we went to Sea World, which was pretty fun. They had a beer tasting that we went to. You choose between 3 different categories, I can’t remember what my category title was but it included all of the flavored beers. My favorite beer I tasted has 400 calories (yes 400!!!) in it for a 16 oz beer, it’s called Tilt. I will never be having that again. Rick did the progressive which leads you from Bud light to Bare Knuckle stout. They pair the beers with different cheeses, fruits, and chocolate. Very fun. We had a great couple from Canada at our table with us. The dolphin show is always my favorite part of Sea World. Anyone who has seen it knows what I mean. I didn’t tell Rick what was going to happen and he laughed so hard. Next time I go down I really want to spend some more time in San Diego. It’s just so relaxed there.
Friday was our last day. We had packed the night before so we were raring to go early. Randomly a friend from high school was there the same time as us so we met up with her and her friend at CA gates at 9:30. We went in and got some mochas (they tasted a lot like peanut butter it was weird) then went to the rope drop to get fast passes to Tower of Terror. I did the speed walk to get those while the rest walked behind. After that we headed to Screamin’ went on that. I love that ride. Especially in the back row. Got fast passes for that after we got off. Headed to the Sun Wheel, my least favorite ride, I always feel like my cage is going to fly off. Then on the Maliboomer. Love it. After that it was time to head across for Billy Hill. We headed back over to CA after lunch and went of Tower of Terror and then Screamin’ again for our last ride.
We got into Sea Tac at 11:20ish and got home at 12:30. It is now Monday night and my body is feeling better so I want to go back already. All in all it was a really great trip and even that bad parts will soon be forgotten because that is how I work. I could not have asked for a better person to be with at the DLR. I think I have made a fan of him, he was on the phone with his dad and I heard him talking about how much detail the rides were and how much fun he had. Sorry this is so long I hope the review help out and enjoy the pictures.
Melissa
Heres a link to my pictures:
http://picasaweb.google.com/melissadudley79
My reviews:
http://www.mouseplanet.com/cgi/reviews/do/display.cgi?product-sku=dlrcharplazainnminnieandfriends
http://www.mouseplanet.com/cgi/reviews/do/display.cgi?product-sku=dlhhookspointewinecellar
http://www.mouseplanet.com/cgi/reviews/do/display.cgi?product-sku=dlrtpg
http://www.mouseplanet.com/cgi/reviews/do/display.cgi?product-sku=dlrespnzone
http://www.mouseplanet.com/cgi/reviews/do/display.cgi?product-sku=dlcarnationcafe
I also have a review for the Ramada Maingate (loved it) but it hasn't been approved yet.
Also we had the worst experience with Advantage rent-a-car, I will do a review on that horrible place once I get a link for it put up in the ground transportation, but basically after we had already paid for our car up front they wanted to charge us an extra $360 to get the car. If I'm not able to get a link in the reviews on here in a week or so then I will just post the review in a thread.