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Thread: IdahoMike June 12-17 Desert Inn and Suites

  1. #1
    I'm your huckleberry IdahoMike's Avatar
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    Jul 2005
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    Kuna, ID (that's Idaho, not Indiana!)

    IdahoMike June 12-17 Desert Inn and Suites

    Travel dates: June 12-17
    Travel method: Car
    Resort: Anaheim Desert Inn and Suites
    Accommodations: Parlor suite
    Ages Represented in Group: 45, 44, 15, 13, 10
    Disney Resort Experience Represented in Group: LOTS
    Comments:
    Cast of characters:Me: 44, Ex wife: 45, Son:15, Son: 13, Son: 10

    This was kind of a weird trip. My niece graduated HS the week prior in Las Vegas, so my ex and my boys went down for that, and then were at Disneyland for 4 days. I had planned to come down on Monday the 13th and we would trade off the kids, but she ended up staying that whole week too (all platonic, we get along fine). My boys and ex have annual passes which expire June 28, so we wanted to fit in one more trip.

    I left Boise at 3 am Sunday, and was in Vegas by about 1. Checked in to the Mirage and had the concierge print off my ticket to Ka by Cirque du Soleil. Side note, if you are a Vegas fan, you should totally play myVegas slots on your phone, you get free chips daily and you earn reward points based on how much you play. I got a free room at the Mirage excluding $33.60 resort fee, and a free ticket to Ka, $101 value! (no, I am not affiliated with them in any way, I just like free stuff!) Walked the strip for a while, watched the Bellagio fountains, mostly just killed time before my show. Had some dinner and eventually 9:30 rolled around so I went to see my show. It was AMAZING! So impressed with the talent, the storytelling, just everything. This was my first show in Vegas and I loved it!

    Got up early and hit the road for Anaheim by 9. We were sharing a parlor suite at the Desert Inn, and I was worried about parking since we each had a car, but they let me park no problem, I just had to pay $42 in parking fees for the week. Got checked in by 1:30 or so, and headed off to the park! Got my parkhopper at the ticket window and met up with my kiddos. They had gotten Hyperspace Mountain fastpasses for us since I had not yet ridden it, which was a nice surprise. We actually headed into DCA first, and found a short line for pictures with Mickey, so we did that really quick and then headed for Toy Story Mania, one of my favorites! Did a few others (fun wheel, screamin, sky school, zephyr, TOT) and headed over to DL. Grabbed FP for Star Tours and Buzz (off network) and then went to stand in line for Alice. For whatever reason, I had missed Alice last year, and had never seen the new enhancements. Wow! So awesome, and honestly a lot better than what they did for Peter Pan IMO. I hope they eventually add enhancements to Toad, Pinocchio and Snow White too! Pretty much cruised around hitting our favorites, until late night rolled around. Watched the fireworks from the Big Thunder exit as we were just slightly early to catch them while we were on the ride, but the view was great from there if all you want is the fireworks portion and not the projections. Headed over to use the Hyperspace Mtn FP after that, LOVED it! Lastly, we grabbed a spot by the Alice bathrooms to watch the late Paint the Night parade. Just like the first time I saw it, it was phenomenal! And that's a great place to watch the parade if anyone is looking for a good spot. Its definitely one of my new favorites.

    Tuesday I had early entry with my parkhopper, so I headed out to use that, and then meet my kids afterward. Was able to ride Toad, Dumbo, Alice again, Pinocchio and the Matterhorn. I was in the park by 7:09 and the Peter Pan line was already 30+ minute wait, so I decided not to waste my early entry on just that ride. There were a LOT more people in the park for early entry this time, than any time I can remember in the past. Used to be able to knock out all of Fantasyland including Peter Pan in the first hour. Met up with the kids and we went to DCA, grabbed Radiator Springs FP, and went to ride Toy Story again. By the time we were done with TSMM, we headed over to the Backlot, and decided to get Frozen FP. They were already on Balcony seats for the 5:10 show! Rode Monsters and did our Free Chase Visa picture, we got Daisy this time around. Funny thing is, we rarely see Daisy in the parks, and on this day we saw her at the meet and greet, as well as both Buena Vista street in DCA and Main Street in DL! We got FP for Soarin since Weds would be the last day of the old version, and rode Grizzly. Took pics with Donald, ate about 25 buckets of popcorn (we got our money's worth out of the refillable AP bucket). Went over to line up for Frozen at about 4:30, we were near the front of the Balcony line. Got seats about 4 rows up (so you can see over the bar/railing) We enjoyed the Frozen show a lot, but it was unanimous in our group that the Aladdin show was better. The highlight of the show for me was the Olaf puppeteer. I thought he was fantastic! He sounded just like Josh Gad too, really impressed. We always saw Aladdin once a trip, I don't know that it will be the same for Frozen.
    Went back to DL for the night. Ate at the Pizza Port for the first time ever. Not impressed with their pizza although my son loved his spaghetti and meatballs. Don't know that I will eat there ever again. It was edible, but that's about all I can say for it. We tried Big Thunder again during the fireworks and it broke down just as we were seated in our train! Bummer! Rode HM and Pirates instead, and then headed back to the hotel.
    I will continue this later with the Weds-Fri adventures


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  3. #2

    Sounds like fun! I look forward to reading the rest!


  4. #3

    Thanks for sharing your trip can't wait for the rest.


  5. #4
    I'm your huckleberry IdahoMike's Avatar
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    Jul 2005
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    Kuna, ID (that's Idaho, not Indiana!)

    Wednesday morning we decided we needed Radiator Springs FP right away, so we did that, rode Toy Story again, and then decided to knock out a Bug's Land since we only usually do everything one time there. For whatever reason I love Heimlich's Chew Chew Train. It probably would be even more fun with a couple beers in me, but its still entertaining On the other hand, Tuck & Roll's Drive em Buggies IMO is the lamest ride in either park. I get that it is for the littles, but even for them, it seems really slow and lame. This is one ride I skip, pretty much every time. We went to use our RSR fastpasses but it broke down just as we got up to the ticket taker person, so we would have to come back later. Decided to grab Soarin FP since it would be the last day for the original Soarin Over California. Did a little pin trading (is it just me or is the quality not even close to what it used to be? I know so many people buy the scrapper lots on ebay, but man, there is almost NEVER a good pin available for trade) We did our free Disney Visa photo (Stitch this time, which is my 10 Y/O favorite, he wears the Stitch hat nonstop (the one that looks like Stitch is eating his head). Got some great photos of Stitch hugging him, and all the boys (and he didn't even wipe imaginary boogers on him like last year!) We rode Monsters, and then were able to ride RSR. We got the paint job once, and the tires once during our trip, and neither time was the curtain working to show the new and improved car Went over to Soarin, and got front row, woohoo! I absolutely love that ride, even without the added smells, but I was also excited for the new version coming on Friday.
    We had Angels tickets for that night, so we went over to DL to enjoy a few hours before we had to catch the shuttle. Went and had lunch at the Golden Horseshoe and watched the show, which I had never seen before. I had seen the Billy Hill and the Hillbillies show many times, but never the current show. It was quite entertaining, and my chili bread bowl was YUM! We spent most of that afternoon on that side of the park, as the grad nite kids had begun arriving, and Tomorrowland was ridiculously crowded. Rode Big Thunder, HM, Indy, Jungle Cruise and Pirates (had fast passed Indy). I always try to guess which hitchhiking ghost we will get in our doom buggy and I got it wrong the first 5 times before finally guessing right on the last day. We also guess which fortune we will get before we look into the eyes of Mara (wealth, youth, knowledge?) I got that one right every single time haha.
    We were taking the ART Angels express shuttle to the game, so we went back to the hotel to clean up and relax for a bit before going back to the DL transportation center to catch our shuttle. Last year when we did it, the driver dropped us off right by the parking lot at Angels stadium. This year the driver took us all the way to the ART transit center which is between the Honda Center and Angels Stadium. We thought that was weird, since we had to figure out how to get back to Angels stadium from there. Luckily there was another family on the shuttle equally as confused as we were. We found a security guard and he basically said "take those stairs, take the elevator up a floor, go across the skybridge, go back down the elevator to this level, then go down the stairs, and walk clear down that walkway underneath the freeway and you will run into the parking lot." He was correct, but man, what a pain in the butt! We finally got into the stadium, and it was free Angels cinch backpack night, so that was nice, they were actually good quality fabric! Found our seats, 8 rows from the field 100 level, and they only cost me 27 bucks apiece! I have to commend the Angels for their pricing. Same seats in Seattle are $55! Got a few pictures of the players, and then sat back to enjoy the game. It wasn't very crowded being that it was a Wednesday night in June against a bad Minnesota team, but we had a blast! Weather was perfect, Angels won 10-2, it was great! Afterward we found our way back to the transit center, and amazingly the shuttle actually showed up not too much later. We were kind of worried that there wouldn't be one lol. Got back to the hotel and crashed for the night, hoping to be rested for our last full day (will be going partial day on Friday)


  6. #5

    Y'all got a lot done! I read another post that left me feeling glad I haven't used the ART bus, it sounds disorganized. I'm enjoying your adventures thanks for sharing 😊


  7. #6
    I'm your huckleberry IdahoMike's Avatar
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    Jul 2005
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    Kuna, ID (that's Idaho, not Indiana!)

    Thursday morning: My middle child had been kind of a pain in the rear, so I decided to take him for a few hours for some solo time with dad, while the other two spent the morning with mom. I gave him 2 hours to do whatever he wanted to do. His favorite is BTMRR, so we got there at rope drop and immediately went to ride Big Thunder. He was going to request the back, but they put us in the very front, and he was ok with that too. Its such a different experience depending on where you are in the train! (we still like the back, and would get to ride back there on Friday). We decided just to knock out that whole side of the park since it wasn't too busy yet, so we fastpassed Indy, rode Pirates and HM (btw is Davy Jones in the mist ever coming back?), and then headed over to ride Splash, as I hadn't yet ridden it this trip. We got our own log, which was awesome, and made for a great picture! Rode Pooh, and then headed to Adventureland. It wasn't quite FP time, so we rode the Jungle Cruise first, and then went to ride Indy. Still my favorite ride in the park. Only managed to get on twice this trip just due to circumstances, but I still love it The first time I rode it, the rat projection wasn't working, but it worked fine on this morning. We then headed to Tomorrowland to meet up with the others. They wanted to FP Star Tours, so we did that (and Buzz, since its off network). So I have a question. My kids had read on the internet, and I thought I had seen on here that there was a Jakku mission now. I rode 6 times, and they rode 10 times and we never got a Jakku mission. Does it exist? We got BB-8 2 or 3 times, but never a Jakku mission. On this morning I was chosen as the rebel spy for the 2nd time in a row (my youngest got picked once too), so that was pretty awesome! The ex wanted to do some shopping, so I took the boys and decided to do a few things I hadn't done yet. So we went to Fantasyland, and waited in the Peter Pan line because I wasn't leaving without riding it once. I certainly enjoy it, but I'm in the group that wonders why the line gets SO long for it. I like Alice much better and so do my kids, and we can get through that line much faster. We went over to Storybookland next because I didn't ride that last year, so I had to take a spin through Storybookland. We got the Ariel boat, and it was neat to see how they had incorporated Arendelle into the ride. Rode Snow White, and that only left Casey Jr. as a FL ride that I hadn't done, but the line was ridiculous, so I decided it wasn't worth it. We went to the Star Wars experience (can't remember what the official name of it is), and I just realized that I had forgotten to mention our experiences here. On Tuesday we waited to meet Chewbacca, which was AWESOME! He inspected all of our lanyards for pins of himself, and then chastised us when he didn't see any, but I told him that we kept those at home because they are very valuable to us. He was happy with that answer. He also pointed out my lack of hair, and offered to share some of his with me On Wednesday we went to meet Kylo Ren, because his line was super long on Tuesday. As we were waiting, one of the CM's tapped me on the shoulder and mentioned that there was a bounty hunter in the cantina and no one had spotted him yet... So as we were heading over to meet Boba Fett instead, stupid me decided it would be a good idea to step OVER the chain instead of unhooking it. Don't do this folks. I tripped and fell on my butt. Luckily only 2 people saw me, the CM, and a mom pushing a stroller, so it wasn't too bad. That night when I got back to the hotel, my left big toe was purple from top to bottom, I'm lucky I didn't break it! (spiked it right into the floor when I tripped). So we got to meet Boba Fett, and we had been doing our pictures so that the boys would all be in one, then I would jump in, and then the ex would jump in and I would jump out. Boba Fett MADE her get in my picture, and when I protested, he dismissed me with a wave of his hand! They definitely stay in character! So back to Thursday, we decided this was the day to meet Kylo Ren. You can't just walk in to meet him, he has to come get you! He spent a couple minutes convincing my youngest that he would be joining the first order, and wouldn't pose for a picture until he agreed. It was pretty awesome, I'm glad he was scary Kylo Ren and not whiny emo Kylo Ren LOL. We kinda just strolled around for a while after that, looking in shops, people watching, all that good stuff. Passed the Mark Twain, which was docked, and noticed that Dr. Facilier from Princess and the Frog was meeting guests on the Mark Twain, and there was NOBODY waiting for him. I had never seen Dr. Facilier before and I love him! So we went over there and took lots of pics with him. Not sure if my kids were quite as excited as I was, but I thought it was pretty cool. I'm a BIG fan of rare characters. One of my favorites ever was meeting Don Karnage of Tale Spin at Halloween time. The CM was actually shocked that anyone knew who he was LOL. We decided to go get Silhouettes done of the boys, as we had them done about 10 yrs ago, so we now have updated ones. If you have never done this, I definitely recommend visiting the silhouette shop on main st. Those ladies are amazing! The one we had said she had been there 42 years! Decided to take a hotel break as it was getting pretty crowded, so we went back, charged phones, rested, and then headed back for the evening. Just decided to do some of our favorites, so we did Matterhorn, IASW, Star Tours and Buzz on FP again, tried BTMRR during the fireworks again, got seated IN our train and it broke down right at 9:30, BUMMER! Watched the fireworks from the exit again, and just kinda killed time until the fireworks crowd cleared out. Decided night time was the best time to ride Nemo, and we were correct, almost no line! Not my favorite, but gotta do it once a trip. I remember waiting in the line on opening day thinking "this better be worth it!" haha. Its a nice ride, the technology is cool, but not worth a long wait, and I don't like how packed the quarters are inside the sub. Not claustrophobic, just not enough space! That was our last ride of the night, and everyone was tired, so we headed back to the hotel to rest up for our last day!


  8. #7
    At home in the hills candles71's Avatar
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    Feb 2008
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    foresthill Ca

    From November through our March trip ALL you got was Jakku as the first scene and BB8 as the transmission. I am so glad it is back to random, sorry you missed it. I got a random sequence at the beginning of June during the 8th grade trip, I was so excited.
    There are now some subtle differences in the scenes. Like the Naboo scene (hoping you've seen it). Before you would miss the Gungan, now you either hit him, or miss him, the end also has two variances as well. The original broken view screen and airlust hav version where it doesn't break and something else funny happens. There are 2 variances of Vader at the beginning as well. The original, and a newer one where you have to look at the guards flanking him, one is Boba. So, we are getting some new tweaks, you just have to know the scenes.
    Sounds like a fun trip so far.
    TulaBelle, I have only used ART once. Girl's trip last August. Our only complaints had less to do with ART and more a general lack of manners in modern society.


  9. #8
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    Jan 2006
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    Beautiful Orange County, CA

    Thanks for your report IdahoMike! Sounds like a great trip! You sure filled your days!!


  10. #9
    I'm your huckleberry IdahoMike's Avatar
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    Jul 2005
    Location
    Kuna, ID (that's Idaho, not Indiana!)

    Never made it back here to finish up the last day! Work has been crazy, so I've kinda been off the grid for a bit. Anyway, Friday would be our last day, and the main goal was to ride Soarin Around the World, as it was opening day. We headed straight for DCA and got in the line to get fastpasses. It was pretty long with several switchbacks, but moved really fast! CM's were at the machines to assist the fastpass challenged, so they were moving people through at lightning speed. Fastpass time was 9:30, so we had about an hour or so to kill beforehand. Decided to go on Toy Story Mania one last time. I used to always be the high scorer in the family, but this trip, the 13 yr old beat me every time, and the 15 yr old 2/4 times. Dangit, I'm getting old! Oh well, I'm still the king of Buzz Lightyear in this family (probably not for long). Rode Screamin as well, and then headed over to Hollywoodland. Nick Wilde and Judy Hopps were out, but their line was crazy long, so we never got a picture with them. Did Monsters one more time, Roz asked us to bring her a churro It was fastpass time for Soarin now, so we headed over, and basically got right on. Super happy to see that Flight attendant Patrick is still around. Front row right side. There was SO much excitement in the theater, and we weren't disappointed! Yes, there is some obvious CGI, but we still absolutely loved it. Got off the ride and immediately snagged more FP for 2:30 that afternoon.
    Headed over to DL to do some favorites, and some shopping. Snagged FP for Hyperspace Mountain, and then rode Matterhorn and Buzz. Went over and rode Big Thunder, Haunted Mansion and Pirates one last time, and by then we could get another FP, so we debated Star Tours or Indy, and the group chose Star Tours because we all wanted the Jakku scene. Didn't get it, but that's ok. Spent some time pin trading, shopping, and just soaking up the ambience of our last day. I really tried to appreciate it because I had already decided I won't be back for a while. Going to save up for a trip to WDW (I have never been), which is significantly more expensive for us when you factor in airfare. I think their mother will probably take them back to DL in the next year, so the kids weren't as nostalgic as I was feeling haha. Made Hyperspace Mtn our last ride in DL, and it was awesome as always. Grabbed some Matterhorn Macaroons at the Jolly Holiday, and went over to use our FP for Soarin, and by this time, the line to redeem your FP was out past Smoke Jumpers, approaching Clarabelle's (did I mention we had a kitchen sink sundae this trip? Awesome! and we are using the sink for my son as a planter to grow flowers now CM's were saying that they weren't enforcing the return times for the rest of the day so people could return at any time. We decided that it was way too long of a wait, and we hadn't done our Downtown Disney shopping yet, so we ended up passing on a 2nd time on Soarin (hey, but I have 5 fastpasses from Opening Day, woohoo!) Had to ride the monorail to DTD just for fun, so we actually set foot back in DL one last time. Stopped at the Lego Store, the pin trader shop right across from there, and the World of Disney. Mostly bought pins, it was my nephew's birthday on the 8th and he loves Stitch, so I hooked him up. My kids also got some pins for themselves, and I split a bag with my 13 y/o of the ones that came out during March Madness that are like basketball team mascots. My son really wanted the Tower of Terror Bellhops, but we didn't get that one. They are still pretty cool though. They had a Mickey backpack purchase with purchase, so I snagged one of those since I didn't find a shirt to buy this time. Wasn't very impressed with the shirt selection this time around. Anyhow, we finished up, and headed to the cars to hit the road back to Vegas. Luckily the traffic wasn't bad at all, since I had read horror stories of outbound from LA traffic on Fridays and inbound to LA traffic on Sundays. Since it was a Friday night, most all hotels were full and/or expensive, so we ended up at the Sunset Station in Henderson. It was nice, and clean, and I won 50 bucks in the casino, woohoo! Had a good night's rest, grabbed some Dunkin Donuts on the way out of town Saturday (we don't have them in Idaho), and hit the road to home.
    All in all, it was a great trip! I got to see a Vegas show for the first time ever, experienced new Hyperspace Mountain as well as new pieces of Star Tours. Soarin over the World was awesome, got to see another major league baseball game, met Dr. Facilier, got to meet all the Star Wars characters, and all in all, just had a fantastic time with my boys in the Happiest Place on Earth! I am sad to not be returning for a bit, but I'll be back eventually, it is my happy place


  11. #10
    At home in the hills candles71's Avatar
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    Feb 2008
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    foresthill Ca

    Thanks for writing. Sounds like a good trip.


  12. #11

    GREAT trip report! It reminded me of trips when we had kids that age Of course DCA didn't exist then but the fun as well as exhaustion did. Thanks for sharing your family time with us. "fastpass challenged" LOL!


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