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View Full Version : Disneyland post partem depression and TR



disneyrand
08-23-2005, 11:33 AM
Well, we're finally back......and thoroughly depressed. I love that place so much!

We arrived on Wednesday (the 17th) at around 2:00 pm at John Wayne and were pleasantly surprised at the short wait for our luggage (about 10 minutes). We stepped outside the airport and at that minute I could "smell it". Being unhip to the airport to hotel shuttle process, we head to an area where we see a herd of shuttle buses and inquire about a shuttle to our hotel (the Laquinta Inn and Suites), without batting an eye this guy hails a shuttle bus and the driver is taking our luggage to load it into the back of the van. About a block from the airport I ask the driver what the ride will cost. "$48.00" the driver announces, as I choke on my own spit. (we took a cab from the hotel back to the airport for our ride back home that cost $35.00 and was TWICE as fast as the shuttle. Moral of the story: beware of any shuttle that is not a complimentary service of your hotel!). We arrived at our hotel and were thrilled to find that our room was ready to be checked into (it was about 2:35 and check in wasn't officially until 3:00) We got up to our room and were impressed by the overall look and setup. We reserved the kids suite, which had a "master room" and a room divided by a sliding glass door and curtains which led to the "childrens' room" complete with their own tv and bunk beds. The room wasn't large by any means, but the only thing we really used it for was to wind down and go to sleep, so it served it's purpose well. The staff was very friendly and courteous. I will also add that I had read many reveiws of this hotel and many were unfavorable. Many complained about the noise level and run down conditions. I couldn't disagree more. Maybe we were on a floor (5th) that didn't have many guests (though I find that hard to beleive considering the fact that I left my room a grand total of ONE TIME without encountering another hotel guest), but I had absolutely no problem with the sound level. As far as "run down" goes, I just didn't see it. Now, don't get me wrong, this was no five star hotel, but it seemed pleasant and the staff was VERY accomodating (to the point that they brought our room two extra pillows at 1:00 am!). I also read a concern in a review about this paticular guest being creeped out by the fact that hotel had "switched the remotes" in their room while they were out (this creeped them out becuase they didn't like the idea of someone being in their room while they were gone (I'm not sure how they expected their room to get clean). As a testimonial to the professionalism of the housekeeping crew: We had gone to the pool in the middle of our day before our room had been "serviced". While at the pool our room was cleaned, and the beds made, etc. My first reaction was one of panic because I realised that I had left my wallet in the room while we swam. I rushed to the counter to find my wallet EXACTLY where I left it with all my money completely intact (over $2000.00 in cash). From that point on I was sold (to the point of tipping my maid $20.00 when I caught up with her the next day)! Just a little price info, too: I booked the room through Expedia and paid $565.00 for 5 nights (all inclusive i.e. tax, surcharges, etc.) and was thrilled when I checked out that there were NO INCIDENTAL CHARGES DUE at checkout. Easiest checkout I have ever had. The hotel was about a 1/4 mile walk to the park (on Clementine) which isn't bad in the morning, to get you up and moving, but semingly endless after a long day in the park. Do yourself a favor and get the Anaheim resorts shuttle pass. We only used it twice in the morning (prefering to walk) but it was godsend at the end of the day.

O.K. on to the resort report (hey that rhymes!). After setting into our rooms and freshening up we headed to the park at around 4:00. Not wanting to break our tradition of hitting the Disneyland Railroad frist thing in the morning and taking the loop around back to New Orleans Square for our inaugural first ride (The Haunted Mansion), we head over to DCA. We are all starving at this point so we stop in at the Taste Pilots Grill. It's at this point that I realise that this will be a VERY expensive trip. 5 cheeseburgers, 4 cokes, a water bottle, and $58.00 later we are seated for our first meal in the park. The sticker shock slowly subsides and we're off to get our first fast pass (Soarin over California). After that we head down to the wharf and look, lamentingly, at the ride we love the most, but will not get to ride (California Screamin). At this point the kids cannot wait a second longer to ride something, so we hop on the first ride the the kids pass at this point (Orange Stinger). While waiting in line I'm thinking to myself, "man this sure is a short ride". After actually riding, I've come to realise that another 30 seconds on that thing would have been 30 seconds too long. I don't usually get queasy on rides, but this one (for some reason) had me on the verge of losing about $11.00 worth of lunch! After collecting my stomach we start to make our way to Bug's Land, and wouldn't ya know it we are just in time for the Block Party Bash. I've heard mixed reveiws about this particular "show" and I have to say I absolutley LOVED IT! This thing is so high energy and peppy that you would almost have to have no pulse to not in some way enjoy this show. Hell, I was even dancing (and I DON'T DANCE, people). I felt like such a child that it literally almost brought a tear to my eye. I had to make a conscious effort to keep that salty raindrop from trickling down my face. It was at that point point that an overwhelming sense of youth and pure happiness completely enveloped me. It was just a sense of "Oh my god, we're finally here!" I was so happy to be....well.......11 again! (and I promptly stayed that way for the next 5 days). After that we headed over to watch one of my favorite attractions in the park (It's Tough To Be a Bug). Although it didn't have the same "awe" effect that it had the first time I saw it, it was still "all good". From there we goofed around to look at some shops and headed over to Tower of Terror. I didn't even get to "look kids there's To....." and they were already in line. "Come on, Dad. The wait's only 15 minutes" and away we went. I must say that the first time of riding this ride, for me, was absolutely terrifying! Maybe it was the point when I saw my sunglasses float out of the front of my shirt and rise above my head only to come crashing to the floor and back up again, but the "weightless feeling" of this ride for the first time was completely unnerving. An absolute blast! The wife would never ride again on our trip. She TRULY deserved the "I survived the Tower of Terror" T-shirt (which my daughter later bought). The wife has asthma AND high blood pressure (not a real good combination for this particular attraction), it literally took her about 45 minutes to collect herself afterward (although all the "thrill rides" have a disclaimer concerning high blood pressure on the ride, this was the only one that pushed the wife to the limits). After getting the wife back into sorts, we head to Soarin for our first of many trips to the attraction. There is only ONE WAY to ride this ride. FRONT AND CENTER! We were lucky enough to get these seats for the first ride and never got them again. This attraction completely sucks from the middle or back rows. Nothing kills the feel of this ride more than being able to see the end of the screen at the bottom and people's feet from the top. Absolutley hated this ride from any other vantage point than the front (rant over). From there it was the get Mom wet ride (Grizzly River Rapids). It doesn't matter what configuration we sit in on this ride, the wife gets completely soaked! It's fun for us to laugh at, but miserable for Mom who always nds up the "drenched rat". O.K. gotto go for now, but I'll post more once I get some things done around the house and running around town. TTFN.

DR

Hakuna Makarla
08-23-2005, 11:42 AM
I am so loving this report!!!! I also know about tot and how scary that ride is! it took me about an hour to stop the heart from racing thru my throat! So I got to hear more about your trip.......... please do not leave me hanging!!............ oh and I just got to see pictures!!!!!!!!!!
Thank you so much for this great report!!!!!!!

Mommy2NicknMax
08-23-2005, 11:49 AM
Great trip report! Can't wait to hear more and I totally agree about Soarin'. Front row only for me, please. :D

disney jones
08-23-2005, 12:00 PM
what a fun report! i can't undertsand those who bash the Bash. do they even have a pulse? :p we are going to see it for about our 7th time this week!

disneyrand
09-02-2005, 04:23 PM
Sorry about the delay in the trip report. my house has been nuts since we got back from vacation. This is only the third time I've been online in a week and a half!

Anyhoo, after DCA the wife and kids couldn't wait for another day to pass without heading to Disneyland. I argued that we can't break the Disneyland tradition of riding the train first thing in the morning and taking it around the whole park, only to stop around again at N.O.S for our first ride (Haunted Mansion)! "It just can't be done!" I argued. To no avail, I lost....and we were off to Disneyland. The kids just HAD to ride Space Mountan first. So we get to Tommorowland and the expected wait is 80 minutes. Fast pass time. I run up to get FPs that have a return time of 10:50 (it's going to be a long day!). Next we head to NOS and hit Pirates and HM. The kids are hungry (again! lol) so I remebered a tip from the good ol' MP cast of characters and hit Pizza Port to split up some Fussilli (sp?). Three orders between our family of five was PLENTY. I don't remember the exact price, but the sticker shock was nowhere near Taste Pilots' Grill level. After dinner we goofed around and looked at some shops (DW's favorite time) while we waited for time to pass for our SM FPs. Didn't take long for the time to pass as I was busy cutting off DW's frivolous spending attempts (I think I saved myself about $1000.00 in an hour and a halves worth of thwarting. lol). Time to get onto SM. I have to say that the improvements were fantastic. For those of you who are even vaguely familiar with the former SM, you will probably remember how "rough' that ride used to be. The key word here is "used". It was Matterhorn rough! It is a smooth sailin' rocket ride, now! It was by far the entire family's favorite attraction of the trip (we must have ridden 8-9 times). Well after ride #1 DS looks back and says "Look, Dad, expected wait time 15 minutes!" Lo and behold we are back in line for another SM adventure (actual wait was 7 minutes). By this time the DW and I are BEAT! It's time for the hotel and wouldn't ya know it, we didn't have a shuttle pass. LONG WALK HOME!!!!! It's amazing how a 1/4 mile can seem like 20 times that long when your feet feel like clumsy boulders and your legs like rubber chickens.

Without boring you to death with day by day details of a five day trip, I'll go over some of the highlights:

1: Splash Mountain- I don't know how my cast of characters does it, but they end up with the funniest looking pictures on that ride. We rode probably 7-8 times on our trip and every one of the pictures was just hilarious. For some reason, though, there was picture that we got on the second to last night of the trip (we rode twice more the last day) that when I saw the picture I just said "That's the one!" The looks on my kids faces are just priceless! Out of all that we saw I definitely picked the right one to buy!

2: Fantasmic- I could watch this damn thing EVERY NIGHT before I went to bed. It never ceases to amaze me the creativity that went into this production. I can't beleive that the concept isn't imitated more (especially in places like Vegas). The only time we bothered to save a seat for this show, though was the most uncomfortable. We waited until the early show finished and, per MP suggestions, went directly down after the fireworks to grab a front row seat. HUGE MISTAKE (IMHO). I didn't realise that you had to sit the whole time. While waiting, I stood up to stretch only to have a CM come by saying "Sir, Sir, you have to sit down". "It's 10 minutes until the show starts!" I replied. "I know that, sir, but you have to sit down." Are you @$#%ing kidding me?! My knees are in bad shape to begin with, I've been sitting on this concrete for what seems to be an eternity, and catching @#$% from a CM for standing 10 minutes before the damn show?! I was not a happy camper to say the least. My advice: if you can't handle sitting in a tightly packed area on concrete for more than about 45 minutes without the urge to choke someone, watch it from farther back. Rant over.

3: Blue Bayou- The Montes were absolutely heavenly and HUGE! I forgot how much food that was. DS ordered one thinking that he could handle it. WRONG! Ended up force feeing about 3/4 of the second half to his sister (however, after the first bite, there wasn't much force feeding needed)> I wish we would have taken the time to eat there again, but alas one trip was all we made. Someone mentioned on here that they didn't like the Cristo due to it's greasiness (or something to that effect). They must have shown up on the wrong day because mine was absolutely perfect. Crispy, crunchy, flaky, and just downright sinful.

4: Fireworks- We watched the fireworks everynight from a different part of the park, and I've got to say that the ONLY way to watch this show (especially if you're tourist with limited opportunities to see it) is from the hub. Absolutely amazing! You just cannot miss this show with Tink flying around. My 12 year old daughter LOVES Tink. I mean it's almost mental health help time for her and Tink (lol) and she was almost in tears when she saw that green little pixie taking flight. It was so cool because it was just one of those Disney moments that takes ahold of you and just brings you the to brink of tears with happiness (it was the first time I saw this in my daughter, on this trip, and the sight of it alone almost brought me to tears). The funny thing about it is that she's 12 and she knows damn well that Tink doesn't fly and that the whole thing is a "smoke and mirrors" act (not literally of course), but when she saw her fly out there above the park she was 5 again, and there REALLY WAS A TINKERBELL. She'll be a teenager by the time we go again, and this was one of those last "Daddy's little girl" moments for me. She's slowly becoming Daddy's little lady. But, I'll hold that one vision of her wonderment and happiness in my heart forever. How do tourists find the magic, my arse.

4: Goofy's Kitchen- Get a second mortgage on the house for this one. A thrilled wife and $168.00 later we were...well......full. The character interaction was great and the wife and kids had a good time with Goofy and Minnie, etc. The food was decent, but nowhere near $168.00 good. I did like the idea of the Peanut butter and Jelly Pizza, though. I couldn't help myself, I had to try it and have to admit, it was a cool idea. Nothing mindblowing, mind you (it's PB and J on a pizza crust for cryin' outloud), but the idea was cute and the youngest DD has requested we make it for her birthday party (trial runs will ensue shortly).

5: Millies- I gotta add this one just for the sake of value. Those of you who are looking to save a litle money on meals and don't mind leaving the park should definitely take advantage of this little gem. Once you get used to paying DL prices for meals, this place is like the damn Dollar Store. Very short walk from the main entrance (maybe 5-7 minutes) and a good value for your money. They even had a decent (not Blue Bayou heavenly, mind you, but decent) Monte Cristo. The fried chicken was also good. Those are the only ones I can give a food reveiw on, because they were the only ones that I ate personally, but no one in the family complained about their food (a rarity in my family). And the table IQ game is a good way to pass time as you wait to be served (lol).

6: Overall experience- This was one of the best times I have ever had at the Disneyland Resort. Every other time I've been we have been in such a hurry to "see everything" that it was hard to actually take in the whole experience. We were lucky enough to spend 5 days in the park and that was absolutely perfect. Just long enough to mosey through our trip and do what we wanted to do. It's weird, too, because the last time we went, we were there for four days and were completely "Disneyed out" by the time we left (probably due to a hectic schedule of three generations of family being there and all the planned "family get togethers"). This time we were there for an extra day and didn't want to leave. Just before we left the park, on our last night, we went over to the opera house and watched the 50 years presentation with Steve Martin. I am SO glad that we did that. All of the nostalgia in the waiting area brought back so many memories. I had forgotten that in 85 they had given a free admission ticket with no expiration date to every 30 guest to walk through the gates. My cousin and I both got one that year. I called my mom after we got home to se if she still had it and she said she'd look around. She called back a couple of days later and told me that it was on the way to my house via FedEx. We left the opera house and started to head towrds the exit on the left (as you leave the park, also a tradition for the last days' exit) and I could feek this overwhelming sense of sadness mixed with happiness, mixed with dead tired, mixed with " no not yet". As we were getting ready to leave the gates, I looked back at the train stayion all lit up and the beautiful 50th flowers, and I couldn't help it...... I cried. I just couldn't stop that tear that I had held back a half a dozen times on this trip for one more second. I tried. I tried so hard to hold it back, but the harder I tried the bigger it got, and it just ran down my cheek. I turned real fast so that my family wouldn't see, but when we all finally got a glimpse of eachother I noticed that we all had a tear running down our face.

How do tourists find the Magic? No offense, my friend, but you don't have a clue.

DR

Whittibo
09-02-2005, 05:02 PM
oh my gosh, I felt like I was THERE with you. You are an amazing writer, and sound like a fabulous dad!

So glad you had a wonderful trip. Ours is coming up shortly. We have done the 3 day pass, the 4 day.. then we started getting AP's and going for 6 days. This year, we'll actually be able to be in the park 8 days!! I love not being rushed!

I love reading these reports, it makes me get more and more excited! Thanks for sharing your trip with us!

SeansMom
09-02-2005, 05:26 PM
I just LOVED your trip report! It's so fun to see DL through somebody else's eyes, and having just been with our DS who just turned 12, I can totally relate to those little child experiences that you know will disappear as they turn into teens.
Glad you had such a special time DR, and thanks for sharing.

Werner
09-03-2005, 08:30 AM
Great trip report! Really made me feel like I was "there" -- thank you! I was just there a week ago and am barely out of my "post-partum" depression, too, and your report was a real salve to my "wounds" ha ha. Sounds like you had a wonderful time. Here's to more of those! Thanks again.