poohlover
10-21-2005, 11:43 AM
My family was at DL/CA 10/12 - 10/15. I had made our hotel reservations about 6 months in advance through Expedia at the Carousel, a regular room with 2 queen beds, nonsmoking. Because I'd seen a few warnings about Carousel's tendency to overbook, I called them two days before we left to confirm our reservation, especially since we wouldn't be checking in until after 10:30 pm. I was reassured that we were good to go. We got there at about 10:30 on 10/12, and after a bunch of head scratching between a very nice front desk clerk (female) and two men (apparently "in charge") they finally fessed up that they didn't have a room for us and didn't know what went wrong. Loooong story short, they are supposed to be crediting us for that night's lodging (has yet to show up on my credit card and I haven't received a reply to 2 emails inquiring on the status), and they paid for a room for us next door at the Tropicana for that first night. They had a room for us the four following nights. I was really bummed because I'd tried to head this off with the pre-arrival phone call plus we were really tired. The following morning we left our luggage in their storage room while we headed off to DL, and our room was ready for us when we got back around 8 that night.
Otherwise, the hotel was fine. We were in a room in the back section, and it was very quiet. Nothing fancy at all, but it was clean and the room was plenty spacious for 2 adults and 2 teen-agers. (The room at the Tropicana was nice enough but much smaller.) The continential breakfast was pretty weak. The roof-top pool was small but a fun place to cool off, and there were plenty of lounge chairs and towels. The view of CA was great. We watched the fireworks in DL on Friday night, and then Saturday night we watched them from the 5th floor breakfast room at the hotel, and we had a wonderful view. Would I stay there again? Yes, mainly because it was so convenient to walk to DL (2 hotels over from the crosswalk - 10 minute walk to the front gates).
Highlights of our trip: We'd been at DL two years ago when Space, Thunder and Splash were all down, so we were glad to be able to enjoy those. We loved them! Screamin' opened on Friday (10/14), the day we'd set aside for CA. :-) We saw PoD 3 times and really loved it, especially Simba by moonlight. We thought the fireworks were INCREDIBLE. We happened to be at DL when Mickey was climbing the Matterhorn, something we hadn't seen before, and that was cool. Loved the performance in front of Animations in CA...3 animators singing/dancing and then Sorcerer Mickey, Cinderella and Woody come out. Enjoyed the things inside Animations, too. The crowds were very reasonable in the mornings...got REALLY crazy on Saturday. Dining highlight was a chili dog at the corner Coca Cola place because Alice, the Mad Hatter, Tweedle Dum and Eric (the piano player) showed up, rearranged all of the furniture, and played musical chairs with a bunch of kids. That Mad Hatter is a hoot. My husband and I thought Billie Hill & the Hillbillies were fun. Lots of characters out and about...I think my daughters got 15 autographs this time (as opposed to 11 last time), mostly different characters than our last trip. I still love Pooh the most...he kissed me on the nose. :-) We thought Block Party Bash was lots of fun, too - very high energy!!
Overall, we had a great time!! Like I said, I would definitely stay at the Carousel again (we got it for $59 a night through Expedia) but would be all over them the few days before arrival to be sure we had a room, including letting them know we'd had a problem at our prior stay. Overall, they were pretty professional and gracious about it, even when I got a little snippy!
We went to the Rainforest Cafe Saturday night. We were glad we had made a reservation in advance (6:30 pm) because there was quite a line. We got right in, were served by a really fun waitress promptly, and the food was great. Hubby and I had a seafood sampler with macadamia-crusted snapper, shrimp skewers and a crab patty, plus rather uninspired steamed veggies. Itw as very good. One daughter had a BBQ chicken wrap and the other had a Cajun pasta dish, and they both were pleased. Love the atmosphere.
We bought our tickets through disneyland.com and got 2 coupons for 10% off a purchase of $50 or $20 off a purchase of over $100. I did all of my shopping in one big trip, so I still have one of those coupons, plus another 10% off $50 purchase from a book I bought before our trip. They expire 12/31/05. If anybody wants them, I'd be glad to share. First email gets the big one, second gets the other. khannegan@yahoo.com Happy shopping!
Otherwise, the hotel was fine. We were in a room in the back section, and it was very quiet. Nothing fancy at all, but it was clean and the room was plenty spacious for 2 adults and 2 teen-agers. (The room at the Tropicana was nice enough but much smaller.) The continential breakfast was pretty weak. The roof-top pool was small but a fun place to cool off, and there were plenty of lounge chairs and towels. The view of CA was great. We watched the fireworks in DL on Friday night, and then Saturday night we watched them from the 5th floor breakfast room at the hotel, and we had a wonderful view. Would I stay there again? Yes, mainly because it was so convenient to walk to DL (2 hotels over from the crosswalk - 10 minute walk to the front gates).
Highlights of our trip: We'd been at DL two years ago when Space, Thunder and Splash were all down, so we were glad to be able to enjoy those. We loved them! Screamin' opened on Friday (10/14), the day we'd set aside for CA. :-) We saw PoD 3 times and really loved it, especially Simba by moonlight. We thought the fireworks were INCREDIBLE. We happened to be at DL when Mickey was climbing the Matterhorn, something we hadn't seen before, and that was cool. Loved the performance in front of Animations in CA...3 animators singing/dancing and then Sorcerer Mickey, Cinderella and Woody come out. Enjoyed the things inside Animations, too. The crowds were very reasonable in the mornings...got REALLY crazy on Saturday. Dining highlight was a chili dog at the corner Coca Cola place because Alice, the Mad Hatter, Tweedle Dum and Eric (the piano player) showed up, rearranged all of the furniture, and played musical chairs with a bunch of kids. That Mad Hatter is a hoot. My husband and I thought Billie Hill & the Hillbillies were fun. Lots of characters out and about...I think my daughters got 15 autographs this time (as opposed to 11 last time), mostly different characters than our last trip. I still love Pooh the most...he kissed me on the nose. :-) We thought Block Party Bash was lots of fun, too - very high energy!!
Overall, we had a great time!! Like I said, I would definitely stay at the Carousel again (we got it for $59 a night through Expedia) but would be all over them the few days before arrival to be sure we had a room, including letting them know we'd had a problem at our prior stay. Overall, they were pretty professional and gracious about it, even when I got a little snippy!
We went to the Rainforest Cafe Saturday night. We were glad we had made a reservation in advance (6:30 pm) because there was quite a line. We got right in, were served by a really fun waitress promptly, and the food was great. Hubby and I had a seafood sampler with macadamia-crusted snapper, shrimp skewers and a crab patty, plus rather uninspired steamed veggies. Itw as very good. One daughter had a BBQ chicken wrap and the other had a Cajun pasta dish, and they both were pleased. Love the atmosphere.
We bought our tickets through disneyland.com and got 2 coupons for 10% off a purchase of $50 or $20 off a purchase of over $100. I did all of my shopping in one big trip, so I still have one of those coupons, plus another 10% off $50 purchase from a book I bought before our trip. They expire 12/31/05. If anybody wants them, I'd be glad to share. First email gets the big one, second gets the other. khannegan@yahoo.com Happy shopping!