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My2kidsrule
11-08-2004, 07:59 AM
Hello all,

Not that anyone will care, but I thought I'd post a quick report from our trip Tuesday-Sunday. Short version: It ruled. Every step of the way. I'll go day by day. Oh, and it was my wife, 2YO daughter, 4YO (next week) son and me.

Tuesday: We arrived at GCH around 11:45 a.m. (just a little commute from Sacramento), and we had called from the Grapevine to check on bunk-bed request. All was good. I'd heard mixed GCH reviews, and I gotta say, the service is worth the money. Every penny. From the valets to the housekeeping staff, everyone was just over the top nice. We've stayed at DLH, and they just seem to kick it up a notch at GCH. The room wasn't ready, so we did lunch, then the room (ready at 12:30), then the parks. Lines were nil, paths were clean, things looked good. Did the Playhouse Disney show (first of three times... I have the songs in my head forever) and played it pretty laid back. Went to DLP after a couple hours and did the faves of the kids: Dumbo, carousel, tea cups. CM said they've already been de-braked, but I didn't believe her, because I had to spin my butt off to get it going. Back at the room early, then made one mistake... the world's most-expensive meal. Room service was good, but now I need a second mortgage. Kids' smile meter: 4 out of 5.

Wednesday: Got up early (4:50 a.m. and my son says, "OK, when can we go?!"). Breakfast at La Brea. Very good. Did DCA first, going from the rockets to Sun Wheel (my 2YO thinks the swinging gondola is the coolest thing on earth), games, face painting, etc. My kids like DCA a lot. So do I, frankly. Only down moment of the whole trip: My son is JUST at 40 inches (tall enough for Star Tours but he bailed out, not tall enough for BTMRR). We checked him on Soarin'. Not tall enough (I'm surprised there's disparity from ride to ride). That's OK, but the CM chided me for trying to game the system. I was ticked. My son wanted to try, and he was fine with not being tall enough, but I wouldn't try to take advantage of the system. It really ticked me off. I went to guest services and wrote a complaint, and CM Amber there was so amazing. She talked with the kids and really took care of my concerns. it made up for the whole thing. Anyway, we went over to DLP after lunch and break. Did Toontown. I really dislike it. And the kids are always left flat. They get to run around, but while the rest of the park was wide open with ZERO lines, TT was packed and tough to get around. Weird. Did Autopia, astro orbiter. I could see the Buzz sign and painted entrance to the ride. I have pix but haven't figured out where to post. Went back to the room early-ish after building a bear in downtown disney (a buzz for Aidan, an Elmo for Alida) and dinner at ESPN Zone where Kurt Rambis was talking (met him before. he mumbles too much). At the room, my kids' stuffed friends had been arranged in funny poses around the room for turn-down. It was great. The kids loved it. Smile meter: 4.5 of 5.

Thursday: Grandma met us at DTD to spend the day at the parks. She hadn't been in 22 years (see my post in the parenting forum for the whole story). She was amazed. We spent the whole day doing rides. DCA in the morning again. She took the kids to the show while we walked right onto TOT. I love it. And my wife said she likes it a little better than the WDW one. She said that was was jerkier. Grandma took the kids on the merry go round while we did Cal Screamin'. Excellent. And I have to admit, there's nothing like being able to have a Karl Strauss beer with lunch. After nap break in the room and more rides, went to DLP for Pirates (no line), Haunted Mansion (twice in a row with no line), BTMRR (no line), etc.My daughter LOVES Pirates. And the kids chose to not go on the mansion. Good call by them. Did fantasyland and autopia again. My mom mentioned that Tomorrowland used to be a lot busier. I agreed and sighed. Did dinner, then the parade and the fireworks preview from Main Street. In all my times at DL, I'd never seen the holiday show. WOW. You get almost teary-eyed when the "snow" starts coming down. The Main Street crowd started a huge applause after the show. My mom said it's one of the best days she's ever had. We agree. Smile meter: 5 of 5.

Friday: Forgot to mention earlier, I love the gym at GCH. Well done and easy to get in and out of. Good to burn off the hot dogs and pretzels. This was hard-core day. Did IASW first thing. Never seen it before. WOW. My kids were singing jingle bells all day. Again, little or no lines anywhere. No real highs or lows. Went swimming for a while during my daughter's nap. nice and quiet. Crowds were small-ish at both parks all week. It made things so easy. and nice. My son fell asleep right before the ELP, but my daughter was yelling during the whole thing at all the characters she loves. She fell asleep before the fireworks, which we watched from IASW. I liked Main Street a little better, and the "snow" machines don't seem to work as well at IASW. Oh yeah, did the Jungle Cruise... no gun. Didn't get a chance to ask why not. Smile meter: 4.5 of 5.

Saturday: We only did a half-day because we had a wedding to go to. Did Princess breakfast. My kids loved it. We'd done PCH Grill before, but this was better. Very small crowd at 8:30 a.m., so tons of personal time with each character. The Beast was also VERY good about giving my son space when he said he was shy. Also, a bird flew into the Plaza Inn and was hanging out by the Christmas Tree. Cinderella and Prince Philip were having to work a little to stay in character, which was funny, but they did a good job. Did some rides. CM in tomorrowland said they've been putting people on Buzz for a few days to test. CM over at DCA said that the CMs have been combined for condor flats and Hollywood backlot. "There's just not enough to be trained on in one land, so they combined us." He also said the stuff about Rock'N' Roller coaster. We'll see. We did the wedding, then cruised the park around 11 p.m. for one last look. I gotta say, The work they're doing on the park has it looking simply excellent. Every minute there was worth it. And what tarps there are didn't even enter our consciousness.

Sunday: The front desk didn't charge me for valet the first day (i did self-park after that). I called to bring it up (yes, I'm too honest). They said not to worry about it. One last bit of service that was unexpected.

Tidbits: The drinks in the minibar in the GCH room are only 20 cents more than those at White Water Snacks. I was surprised.
Went on Pinocchio for the first time ever. Really. And I gotta say, my kids found Pirates less disturbing.
Redd Rocket isn't cuisine, but it's the best deal on food in the park. We split one pizza piece and one pasta dish and were all full.
Had a turkey leg at Frontierland. Oh my god, how can people say those are great? I blew up like a balloon from the salt.
I can't wait until our next trip! I know this is too long, but oh well. It's worth it.

Hakuna Makarla
11-08-2004, 08:18 AM
Not that anyone will care, but I thought I'd post a quick report from our trip Tuesday-Sunday. Short version: It ruled. Every step of the way. I'll go day by day. Oh, and it was my wife, 2YO daughter, 4YO (next week) son and me.



Yes I do!! I just got done reading your post and thought" man I wish that was me!!!! sounds like a wonderful time and I was glad you did not have to wait in lines. I also love DCA and wish I had gotten to see more of both parks. Thank you so much for giving us a look into your trip. I enjoyed it !!

Dlandmom
11-08-2004, 08:19 AM
Thanks so much for sharing! While I'm lucky enough to live nearby and go as often as I want, I love hearing about everyone else's trips!

Karla, it'll be you again very soon!

momtoo2
11-08-2004, 08:21 AM
Loved your report. Lauged out loud at the Turkey Leg comment...sounds like I should avoid this one at all costs.
I had a question about GCH...where was your room location and was it really "worth it"? My DH really wants to try this one and I just don't know if I want to go without new countertops one more year for a trip to GCH :). Also how was the pool? Did you sit in the spa (hot tub)..this is of the utmost importance. Thanks

My2kidsrule
11-08-2004, 08:30 AM
Yeah, I saw this Food channel thing on WDW where they talked up the turkey legs. I just don't see it. Oh well.
We stayed third floor, park view (an AMAZING view of GRR), and yeah, it's worth it to me. The room is slightly smaller than our concierge room at DLH was, but it's extremely quiet (we never heard the monorail, and it went right by our window), the service is truly a notch above, the shampoo is excellent, the pack n play in the closet was cool, the robes were nice to have for the week, the fridge we requested was perfect for a six pack of beer, a 12 pack of coke, a half gallon of milk and a half gallon of soy milk and some juice boxes.
The pools were nice. The spa was very comfy and kinda out of the way, so that's good. It closes at 10 p.m. The slides were cool, and the water was nice enough for a chilly day. My son loved it.
In my mind, it's a trade-off. Service and convenience (i never thought it would be cool to have a special entrance until we had one. Both to DTD and DCA, it's just SO nice to be right there) vs. a slightly larger room. We can't afford it ever time, but if we could, we would.

3894
11-08-2004, 08:36 AM
Had a turkey leg at Frontierland. Oh my god, how can people say those are great? I blew up like a balloon from the salt.

I hear you. The Food Network showed them injecting saline solution into those turkey legs. Yes, brining is a standard cooking procedure but it's also a way to hide lack of freshness and increase product weight. Just an observation.

Glad you loved the Grand Californian Hotel!

Photographer
11-08-2004, 08:45 AM
Thanks for posting your trip report. It's fun to hear about everyone's adventures at the parks. Glad to hear you had a great time and that you had 3 generations! :)

Hakuna Makarla
11-08-2004, 09:29 AM
I hear you. The Food Network showed them injecting saline solution into those turkey legs. Yes, brining is a standard cooking procedure but it's also a way to hide lack of freshness and increase product weight. Just an observation.

Glad you loved the Grand Californian Hotel!
good morning Helen! ( hey I will be praying you get that dream and the tree is up and there is hot coco waiting for you) ;)

so they shoot it full of saline,well I love salt and suck every chip to the point of being ridiculois LOL! I wish I had tried one now, but I was so lost while I was there I just ate when I found a place. Yum salty foods! ( bad stuff ! bad stuff!! ) but oh sooo good! :D

Christiii
11-08-2004, 09:33 AM
[QUOTE=My2kidsrule]Hello all,

Not that anyone will care, but I thought I'd post a quick report from our trip Tuesday-Sunday.
Oh dont say that...I know I care!! I love reading the trip reports...thank you so much!! Im so glad you had a wonderful time..it makes me even more excited for my trip in a couple of weeks..yeay!! :D

My2kidsrule
11-08-2004, 09:37 AM
OK, I didn't mean to be all down in the beginning. :-) thanks for caring!

DISNEYloon
11-08-2004, 10:04 AM
then the parade and the fireworks preview from Main Street. In all my times at DL, I'd never seen the holiday show. WOW. You get almost teary-eyed when the "snow" starts coming down. The Main Street crowd started a huge applause after the show. .

Thanks for sharing the TRIP! I totally agree about the Snow. We experienced it last December for the first time......it's soo cool to see families HUG and the parents/grandparents get teary-eyed! GREAT TIMES!

Thanks again........can't wait for our trip 52 days!....... :)

rentayenta
11-08-2004, 11:47 AM
Great report! I like the Smile meter- very cute. It sounds like you had a wonderful trip.

kisroo
11-08-2004, 11:52 AM
Great trip report. I agree about the service at GCH. I wish we could afford it every time as well! ;) All these great trip descriptions only make me more excited for our trip. We leave 1 month from today!!!! :D

Glad you had such a great time. note to self: self, do not eat turkey leg...
Thanks for sharing,
~kisroo:)

tstan70
11-08-2004, 12:21 PM
Only down moment of the whole trip: My son is JUST at 40 inches (tall enough for Star Tours but he bailed out, not tall enough for BTMRR). We checked him on Soarin'. Not tall enough (I'm surprised there's disparity from ride to ride). That's OK, but the CM chided me for trying to game the system. I was ticked. My son wanted to try, and he was fine with not being tall enough, but I wouldn't try to take advantage of the system. It really ticked me off.

Sounds like you had a fun trip.

It is tough when a child is right at certain height, say 40". Last year my daughter was right at 40" and was fine at Soarin'. She was too short for Jumpin' Jellyfish (has same height restriction). Went to Star Tours and was tall enough at the first mark in the attraction and just barely, and I mean barely, at the second mark when the CM checked her height. Strange - maybe she did shrink as the day went by due to gravity :) I am just happy that she is now 2 inches taller, but now we have to deal with the 42" issues at Tuck n roll buggies and Redwood Creek :)

My2kidsrule
11-08-2004, 12:40 PM
Yeah, my son is pretty cool about it. Has been ever since he wanted to go on Cal Screamin' at age 2 and I explained to him that he had to grow to the line. I think he figured that since he went on the Matterhorn at that age (and LOVED it), then all the rides were open to him. Oh well, he'll be well over 40 next time we go, then he'll only have seven rides he can't go on: Screamin', Orange Stinger, tuck n roll, redwood creek, maliboomer, indy and Splash Mtn. Amazing that you only have to be 40 inches to go on ToT. He wouldn't anyway.

I just hated being accused. Oh well. Live and learn.

JTSnowFan
11-08-2004, 01:52 PM
Ya. The height requirement thing is kinda weird.

CarlieB
11-08-2004, 02:02 PM
Great report - I really enjoyed it:)