Rob9874
09-13-2007, 03:54 PM
My fiancée MaryAnn decided to take me to Disneyland for my 33rd birthday, September 8th. We actually went Friday the 7th and Saturday the 8th. We drove from Phoenix on Thursday, after spending Saturday through Wednesday visiting family in Indianapolis. We stayed in Anaheim 3 nights at the Hyatt, which I got on Priceline for $55/night. It’s 3 miles away, but offers a free shuttle that picks up every 30 minutes.
We bought 3-day park hoppers, as we intended to use the early entry on Saturday, to ride Nemo early, and then upgrade to Annual Passes. We were torn though, because we’re also pin collectors/traders, and there was a pin release at The World of Disney on Saturday morning too. We had read on here that Nemo isn’t always open for EE anyway. So we decided to ride Nemo Friday afternoon (only a 60 min line), and then upgraded for our APs Friday. Besides, the park opened at 8:00am on Saturday, which meant EE was 7:00. After walking all day Friday, we weren’t about to be up early enough to get in line before 7:00am on Saturday!
Friday was awesome! There were so few people there that most rides had only a 5 minute wait (except Nemo, of course). We had a loose schedule planned, which included getting Indy FPs first thing. Well, with a 5 min wait (which is basically how long it takes to walk through the queue with no line), we just rode it and skipped the FPs. We rode Star Tours & Buzz with no lines either. The weather was perfect too. About 76 degrees, cloud coverage to block the sun, and a cool breeze.
I had called 2 months ahead of time to make 11:30 reservations for the Blue Bayou. MaryAnn had never been to it, and I had been once, but wasn’t waterfront. We stopped by early, to make sure we got a waterfront table. The hostess told us to come back at 11:15, and since we had 11:30 reservations, we were pretty much guaranteed to get waterfront. So we showed up at 11:15, and there was a huge line! I was a little worried that people walking up with no reservation would get a better table than us, when I called 2 months in advance. Well, our concern was put to rest when ours was the 3rd name called at 11:30. As we were taken to our table, the waiter said, “I apologize, but the only table we have available is on the rail by the water. I hope you don’t mind.” We smiled and said that would be fine. We both ordered the Monte Cristo, of course. MaryAnn got the Pirate Punch (man is that good! Very sweet, but SO GOOD!) with the lighted Tinkerbell clip-on. For anyone planning on going there, I would recommend splitting it! I’m a big guy and can eat a lot, but could only finish half of the Monte Cristo. MaryAnn also only ate half. At $22 a piece, splitting (with a $4 split fee) is a good idea. After you eat your gumbo or salad, and bread, and the potatoes, and the veggies, who has room for the Monte Cristo? We asked for a to-go bag, but the waiter forgot, and only brought our check. No big deal, as we decided we didn’t want to carry the food around all day.
After eating, we went back to Adventureland, and rode Indy again, as there was no line. MaryAnn loved Buzz, and wanted another chance for a good picture, so we rode that again, with no line. This time smiling when the pic is taken. Speaking of pictures, as we left Star Tours, we had our picture taken, and made to look like Padme and Anakin. We must have done a good job, as we had a nice crowd gathering as we were having them taken. It looked so good, we had to buy it (at $40!).
Friday evening, it got more and more crowded. I figured Southern Cal residents wait for the kids to get home from school on Friday, and take them to Disneyland. It got worse and worse, until it was difficult to walk around. Forget getting on any rides. We checked out DCA and rode Soarin’ (we had ridden it in May at DW), and the white water rapids. Somehow, we picked the wrong place to sit on the water rapid ride, as we always seemed to be going backwards, and when you go down the drops, those who hit first get the wettest. Then at the end of the ride, there’s this huge stream of water shooting out like a volcano. As we passed by, guess who it soaked? Yep, the both of us. Completely soaked. It was a cool day anyway, but as the evening wore on, it cooled even more, and having wet clothes wasn’t fun. MaryAnn bought a dry pair of sweatpants to change into on Main St. We were tired, and knew we had the next day too, so we left around 9:00, before the fireworks.
Saturday was a typical Disneyland summer day. Crowded, and much hotter than the previous day. But that didn’t bother me – it was my birthday! The first thing I did was went to City Hall and got my birthday button. Yes, even at 33. It’s so cool to have cast members come up to you all day saying, “Happy Birthday, Rob!” Speaking of my birthday, we decided against doing the Happiest Birthday Celebration (at the Plaza Pavilion), as it was geared more for kids. However, we just happened to be relaxing on a bench nearby when people who shared my birthday were getting in line for it. At the last minute, we decided to go. I’m really glad we did. It was mainly kids (and we have none), but was really fun. Pat E. Cake comes out and sings to everyone, and then you get a small cake to decorate. MaryAnn put “I Love Rob” on her cake, and he wouldn’t stop teasing her about it, on his microphone for everyone to hear. “Hey everyone, MaryAnn loves Rob!” And, “MaryAnn and Rob sitting in a tree…” I felt a little corney sitting around with kids, eating my little cake, with my birthday hat on, but figured, when you’re at Disneyland for your birthday, why not?
Saturday was spent just enjoying ourselves at an easy pace, and catching a few attractions we missed on Friday. Fantasmic was only shown on Saturday night, so we planned it so that we saw most of the rides we wanted on Friday (which worked our perfect with the small crowds), so we didn’t feel like we were missing out on valuable time as we waited for Fantasmic. We put our blanket down a little before 6:00. We were right at the rail, but decided to move a row back, as the rail was blocking our view. They were perfect seats. MaryAnn stayed there, as I got our dinner – gumbo in a bread bowl. Fantasmic was fantastic! It was MaryAnn’s first time to see it as DL. We saw it at DW (her first time), and I was disappointed at how it didn’t measure up to DL’s. And I loved how they have you stay at your seat, and can see the fireworks from there immediately after. How do they do the smiley face fireworks?!
After that, we got a Mint Julep and strolled Main St. Bought some last minute souvenirs and a caramel apple, and called it a night. Got back to the hotel, ate our goodies, and watched an SNL rerun with Peyton Manning (I’m a huge Colts fan). Sunday, we slept in, and drove to Huntington Beach, and ate lunch on the pier. Then drove back to Phoenix. It was the best birthday ever! We can’t wait to come back when it’s decorated for Christmas. Neither of us have seen that, and we’re both Christmas fanatics!
We bought 3-day park hoppers, as we intended to use the early entry on Saturday, to ride Nemo early, and then upgrade to Annual Passes. We were torn though, because we’re also pin collectors/traders, and there was a pin release at The World of Disney on Saturday morning too. We had read on here that Nemo isn’t always open for EE anyway. So we decided to ride Nemo Friday afternoon (only a 60 min line), and then upgraded for our APs Friday. Besides, the park opened at 8:00am on Saturday, which meant EE was 7:00. After walking all day Friday, we weren’t about to be up early enough to get in line before 7:00am on Saturday!
Friday was awesome! There were so few people there that most rides had only a 5 minute wait (except Nemo, of course). We had a loose schedule planned, which included getting Indy FPs first thing. Well, with a 5 min wait (which is basically how long it takes to walk through the queue with no line), we just rode it and skipped the FPs. We rode Star Tours & Buzz with no lines either. The weather was perfect too. About 76 degrees, cloud coverage to block the sun, and a cool breeze.
I had called 2 months ahead of time to make 11:30 reservations for the Blue Bayou. MaryAnn had never been to it, and I had been once, but wasn’t waterfront. We stopped by early, to make sure we got a waterfront table. The hostess told us to come back at 11:15, and since we had 11:30 reservations, we were pretty much guaranteed to get waterfront. So we showed up at 11:15, and there was a huge line! I was a little worried that people walking up with no reservation would get a better table than us, when I called 2 months in advance. Well, our concern was put to rest when ours was the 3rd name called at 11:30. As we were taken to our table, the waiter said, “I apologize, but the only table we have available is on the rail by the water. I hope you don’t mind.” We smiled and said that would be fine. We both ordered the Monte Cristo, of course. MaryAnn got the Pirate Punch (man is that good! Very sweet, but SO GOOD!) with the lighted Tinkerbell clip-on. For anyone planning on going there, I would recommend splitting it! I’m a big guy and can eat a lot, but could only finish half of the Monte Cristo. MaryAnn also only ate half. At $22 a piece, splitting (with a $4 split fee) is a good idea. After you eat your gumbo or salad, and bread, and the potatoes, and the veggies, who has room for the Monte Cristo? We asked for a to-go bag, but the waiter forgot, and only brought our check. No big deal, as we decided we didn’t want to carry the food around all day.
After eating, we went back to Adventureland, and rode Indy again, as there was no line. MaryAnn loved Buzz, and wanted another chance for a good picture, so we rode that again, with no line. This time smiling when the pic is taken. Speaking of pictures, as we left Star Tours, we had our picture taken, and made to look like Padme and Anakin. We must have done a good job, as we had a nice crowd gathering as we were having them taken. It looked so good, we had to buy it (at $40!).
Friday evening, it got more and more crowded. I figured Southern Cal residents wait for the kids to get home from school on Friday, and take them to Disneyland. It got worse and worse, until it was difficult to walk around. Forget getting on any rides. We checked out DCA and rode Soarin’ (we had ridden it in May at DW), and the white water rapids. Somehow, we picked the wrong place to sit on the water rapid ride, as we always seemed to be going backwards, and when you go down the drops, those who hit first get the wettest. Then at the end of the ride, there’s this huge stream of water shooting out like a volcano. As we passed by, guess who it soaked? Yep, the both of us. Completely soaked. It was a cool day anyway, but as the evening wore on, it cooled even more, and having wet clothes wasn’t fun. MaryAnn bought a dry pair of sweatpants to change into on Main St. We were tired, and knew we had the next day too, so we left around 9:00, before the fireworks.
Saturday was a typical Disneyland summer day. Crowded, and much hotter than the previous day. But that didn’t bother me – it was my birthday! The first thing I did was went to City Hall and got my birthday button. Yes, even at 33. It’s so cool to have cast members come up to you all day saying, “Happy Birthday, Rob!” Speaking of my birthday, we decided against doing the Happiest Birthday Celebration (at the Plaza Pavilion), as it was geared more for kids. However, we just happened to be relaxing on a bench nearby when people who shared my birthday were getting in line for it. At the last minute, we decided to go. I’m really glad we did. It was mainly kids (and we have none), but was really fun. Pat E. Cake comes out and sings to everyone, and then you get a small cake to decorate. MaryAnn put “I Love Rob” on her cake, and he wouldn’t stop teasing her about it, on his microphone for everyone to hear. “Hey everyone, MaryAnn loves Rob!” And, “MaryAnn and Rob sitting in a tree…” I felt a little corney sitting around with kids, eating my little cake, with my birthday hat on, but figured, when you’re at Disneyland for your birthday, why not?
Saturday was spent just enjoying ourselves at an easy pace, and catching a few attractions we missed on Friday. Fantasmic was only shown on Saturday night, so we planned it so that we saw most of the rides we wanted on Friday (which worked our perfect with the small crowds), so we didn’t feel like we were missing out on valuable time as we waited for Fantasmic. We put our blanket down a little before 6:00. We were right at the rail, but decided to move a row back, as the rail was blocking our view. They were perfect seats. MaryAnn stayed there, as I got our dinner – gumbo in a bread bowl. Fantasmic was fantastic! It was MaryAnn’s first time to see it as DL. We saw it at DW (her first time), and I was disappointed at how it didn’t measure up to DL’s. And I loved how they have you stay at your seat, and can see the fireworks from there immediately after. How do they do the smiley face fireworks?!
After that, we got a Mint Julep and strolled Main St. Bought some last minute souvenirs and a caramel apple, and called it a night. Got back to the hotel, ate our goodies, and watched an SNL rerun with Peyton Manning (I’m a huge Colts fan). Sunday, we slept in, and drove to Huntington Beach, and ate lunch on the pier. Then drove back to Phoenix. It was the best birthday ever! We can’t wait to come back when it’s decorated for Christmas. Neither of us have seen that, and we’re both Christmas fanatics!