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Family5LovesDisney
07-01-2005, 10:31 AM
This was a fun, last minute trip that my husband and I decided to do for our 15 year anniversary..........without the kids! He had business in San Diego so we added on two days and went to Disneyland the first day!

Our plane touched down on time at the L.A. Airport!!! We did not check on any luggage so we could just hop on a shuttle to get our rental car. We arrived at the Howard Johnson Hotel within 30 minutes of leaving the rental car place. They were able to give us a room right away so we did a quick change and then went right on over to the Park.

We had to pick up Fantasmic Dessert Tickets before we went into the park. The wait was about 45 minutes. That was the only sad point of the whole day and the longest we waited for anything!

We were into the Park by 2:00 p.m. We admired the front entrance with the special flowers and Mickey. We went right into the Opera House to view the Disney Movie with Steve Martin. It was nice to walk around inside and check out all of the things on display and the huge model map! The movie was nice and very interesting for us since we are much more knowledgeable about the history of WDW. It was fun to see how Disneyland looked like when it first started!

When were done, we went right out onto Main Place and found a park seat bench facing down towards the castle (in the center thing but the front gates) so we could view the Parade of Dreams. It was nice just to sit back and people watch for a while. Some of the Main Street bands entertained us while we were waiting. My husband went over to the Mad Hatter and bought his golden Mickey Ears which he wore the rest of the day and night! (Goofy husband!) Our seating locating was perfect for the afternoon parade. The parade started down by the castle and worked it's way towards where we were sitting. We had a perfect "front on" view!

The parade is really nice! Very colorful and full of golden touches. I liked how the parade did a stop and every float did their own show. From our location, we were able to see it all! My two favorites were the Lion King Float with the waterfalls and the gymnasts and the giant Ursula Float! I loved how Ursala's hands, eyes, arms, and mouth moved. She was singing right along!

I loved the golden touches down Main Street! From the special lamp posts with the Golden Mickey ears to the window displays that they brought back for the 50 year celebration! Not having the kids along allowed us to really take our time and notice little details that we normally would miss while trying to keep our eyes on the kids at all times!

The castle looked fantastic! Much better then the awful Birthday Cake Castle they did over in WDW several years ago. Those crowns were amazing!

We were able to get some fast pass tickets for Buzz Lightyear and hop on The Jungle Cruise. We got to ride in the Golden Boat so that was fun. My husband was curious to see if they shot the hippo anymore. He was in Disney Tokyo a few weeks ago and he said that they do on their Jungle Cruise.

We also rode Pirates (2 times), Haunted Mansion, Casey Jr., Buzz, Snow White, Pinochio, & IASW. We really weren't overly concerned about riding a lot of things. We just wanted to enjoy all of the 50th touches. We did get to ride on the golden Casey Jr. Train.

I know that I am forever spoiled with Pirates. I never want to ride it again at WDW after getting to experience it at Disneyland!

We had Riverside Seating for the Fantasmic Dessert Buffet. We checked in at 8:00 and had time to go and view the Gallery Display with all of the neat art work. The Dessert Buffet was nice. The chairs are very close together and there are no tables so you have to balance the plate on your lap along with your drink. The people that worked there were wonderful, especially Bora! The wonderful service made up for the chairs being so close and no tables! They really went out of their way to make you feel special. My husband mentioned to Bora that it was our 15 year anniversary and she had us stand up in front of everyone and blow out the candle on a small cheesecake. (which was delicious!) The desserts are very sweet here. My husband and I were only able to eat one chocolate covered strawberry and a bite of two out of the shortbreak cookie (way too sweet!) We figured the desserts are a bonus and it's nice to have such a wonderful seat. My husband enjoyed a cup of hot tea with honey and I drank about 4 water bottles (each time I was done, they would quickly bring me another one!)

FANTASMIC is awesome! We really enjoyed the show. It was a first time "see" for both of us! My two younger boys would have been scared to death with all of the noise and the fire so it was nice to see it without having to comfort freaked out children! :D

The fireworks show started about 2 minutes after the Fantasmic show was done. The soundtrack was quite clear and the fireworks were nice. We could see Tinkerbell. We could not see any of the special effects on the front of the castle or the Matterhorn. We would love to try and sneak back sometime before the 50 year celebration is done just to see the Remember show with a front view of the castle and of the Matterhorn!

We stayed almost until the Park closed at midnight.l Which felt like 3:00 a.m. to us (we were still on EST) it was fun to shop in the Christopher Radko shop in New Orleans and few other spots.

We were not impressed with the Howard Johnson. Our room was dirty, right on the freeway, and right next to the elevator. The walk to the park was easy but I would never stay there again. I would have loved to stay at a Disney Property but since our trip was last minute, everything was full.

We had a lovely breakfast at the Storytellers Cafe the next morning. We also had fun shopping in one of the Gift Stores at the Grand Californian hotel. We bought the special boxed CD set for the 50th (which I just opened up and can't wait to hear it all!) and my husband found a nice Golf Shirt that said Disneyland 50 years!

It was a great trip and we were once again impressed with Disneyland. (still like Disneyland Park better then the Magic Kingdom Park)

disney jones
07-01-2005, 10:49 AM
thanks for taking the time to write such a nice report. i especially liked reading your impressions of the riverside seating.

Family5LovesDisney
07-01-2005, 11:09 AM
thanks for taking the time to write such a nice report. i especially liked reading your impressions of the riverside seating. While were up in the gallery viewing the art work, we were able to see the Cast Members setting up for the balcony seating for the Fantasmic Show. I think it would interesting to try that spot too for a different perspective on the Fantasmic Show. But I will have to wait until I get to go again without the kids. My boys would be jumping off the balcony when I wasn't looking (not really but they would be like bulls in a china closet in such a tight quarters!)

disneyland50
07-01-2005, 11:14 AM
thanks for that report im thinking about going in two weeks and this was kinda helpful thanks. by the way how much did you pay for the fantasmic seating? :)

Shortiemetoo
07-01-2005, 11:16 AM
Thank you for the wonderful trip report and I am happy you like Pirates so much!!!! Glad you had a great time!! Sounds like you got to fit a lot in for one day!

Crazy4DL
07-01-2005, 11:35 AM
thank you for taking the time to write about your fun day :)

Family5LovesDisney
07-01-2005, 11:49 AM
thanks for that report im thinking about going in two weeks and this was kinda helpful thanks. by the way how much did you pay for the fantasmic seating? :) I believe that we paid about $106 for the two tickets. It was nice that we didn't have to stake out a seat HOURS before the show started!

shawnarae
07-01-2005, 12:19 PM
Were there any kids at the dessert buffet? I am seriously debating getting reservations, if it helps me not to have to stake out seating. In the last year we have gone to Disneyland over 5 times, at least, but always miss Fantasmic because of crowds.

rentayenta
07-01-2005, 12:26 PM
Great report- it sounds like you had a nice day. :)


Bummer about the HoJo- I hope we have better luck. :(

kohl
07-01-2005, 01:54 PM
We are taking our kids July 9th to the Riverside seating for Fantasmic. They are 7 and 9 years old. I think you get a little break in price for the kids. We have never done this so we are so excited!
I know you can't see the special effects from the Riverside seats for the Fireworks, but can you still see the fireworks pretty good?

Family5LovesDisney
07-01-2005, 02:14 PM
Were there any kids at the dessert buffet? I am seriously debating getting reservations, if it helps me not to have to stake out seating. In the last year we have gone to Disneyland over 5 times, at least, but always miss Fantasmic because of crowds.
The tickets are $10 less for kids at the Riverside seating. Same price for balcony. Yes, there were several kids there very much enjoying the desserts. I heard one little girl say that she wished they had ice-cream and guess what? Yep, they got her some! Very "magical"! :)

Family5LovesDisney
07-01-2005, 02:18 PM
Great report- it sounds like you had a nice day. :)


Bummer about the HoJo- I hope we have better luck. :( You won't have a King Bedroom so I think that will help. There were several smaller buildings with only two levels each. (I think the larger rooms are in those buildings?) They were not by the freeway. We were in a tall building that backed up to the freeway. The Disneyland Hotel it is not, but the walk was quite simple and no longer then the walk from the Disneyland Hotel. Mimi's Cafe looked like a very nice place to grab a bite to eat. I saw the menu and it's right next door. I did not check out the pool area but you can see the Matterhorn quite clearly from the pool area. I think the view of the fireworks from that area would be great.

We only stayed there one night too and just had a bad experience. These things can happen anywhere I guess.

(And we were spoiled by getting to stay a gorgeous Embassy Suites in Downtown San Deigo with a water view out of our balcony and window)

Malcon10t
07-01-2005, 02:20 PM
Were there any kids at the dessert buffet? I am seriously debating getting reservations, if it helps me not to have to stake out seating. In the last year we have gone to Disneyland over 5 times, at least, but always miss Fantasmic because of crowds.There are always kids at the river seating. They also are at the balconey seating. I found the river front seating more conducive to children. I've been taking my kids (but they are teens) to the river front seating for years. I've seen children as young as babes in arms there. Last summer we had a couple young girls (2-4years old) who were too shy to go get their desserts, so Gregg brought them a beautiful tray of goodies. They looked like little princesses.

Family5LovesDisney
07-01-2005, 02:21 PM
We are taking our kids July 9th to the Riverside seating for Fantasmic. They are 7 and 9 years old. I think you get a little break in price for the kids. We have never done this so we are so excited!
I know you can't see the special effects from the Riverside seats for the Fireworks, but can you still see the fireworks pretty good? Yes, you can see the fireworks pretty well. And the sound is awesome. I just loved the sound track for the Remember show! (and we now have it on the 50th Anniversary Musical History of Disneyland set we purchased! :) ) "Welcome to the Haunted Mansion" was so crisp and clear.......it gave me chills!

Malcon10t
07-01-2005, 02:25 PM
The tickets are $10 less for kids at the Riverside seating. Same price for balcony. Yes, there were several kids there very much enjoying the desserts. I heard one little girl say that she wished they had ice-cream and guess what? Yep, they got her some! Very "magical"! :)Bora is so good at that! My daughter just asked where the nearest churro place was, next thing we knew, we had churros all around. Bora is incredible!!

Family5LovesDisney
07-01-2005, 02:35 PM
Bora is so good at that! My daughter just asked where the nearest churro place was, next thing we knew, we had churros all around. Bora is incredible!!
I mentioned to Bora that she was famous on the Mouseplanet Discussion Board. She wrote it down and I think she was going to come and check it out! ;)

Malcon10t
07-01-2005, 02:47 PM
I mentioned to Bora that she was famous on the Mouseplanet Discussion Board. She wrote it down and I think she was going to come and check it out! ;)I hope she does so she knows how much she is appreciated. Before they had the buffet, they gave each adult a box of goodies, and kids got ice cream over a brownie (something like that, this was several years ago.) My daughter, while an adult age at the time, is Aspie, and prefers kids meals to adult. Bora noticed and brought her one of the kids treats instead. It was really impressive how much she cares about her guests.