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View Full Version : New Trip Report- 11/17 to 11/21



CandiBell
11-22-2005, 06:20 PM
We are back from our trip, and already I can't wait for the next visit. It was a really nice time that our family had together. Our party consisted of 2 adults and two kids, ages 2 and 7.

We stayed at the Grand Californian Hotel in a room with a queen sized bed and bunk. Standing at the corner of our balcony we had a pretty view of DCA's ferris wheel, and we look out over trees, behind which we could catch the green blue of the pool water.

For three of the four breakfasts during our stay we went to the Storyteller's Cafe. The buffet is really nice, featuring french toast a la bananas foster (which I really liked), pork chops with apples (channeling Peter Brady here), an omelet bar, pastries, cut fruit, eggs benedict, scrambled eggs, biscuits and gravy, asparagus and country-style potatoes. I ordered that twice, but on Saturday we had to eat fast to be ready for the bus to Legoland, so I ordered the french toast off the menu- buffets are made to take a little more time with! My order came as two french toast "sandwiches" with bananas inside, and a generous side of fresh blackberries, strawberries and raspberries. That same day my husband had a delicious Denver omelet with toast while my son chose cereal (the other two days he picked the buffet) and our 2 year-old shared our food.

Character-wise, it was very low key. There were usually Koda, Dale and the Raccoon,with a gorilla from Tarzan making an apperance. Kenai was there one day. The characters spent a nice amount of time at every table, and a ranger came out to play a couple of games, so it was pretty enjoyable.

One morning in between we went to Goofy's kitchen, as Goofy and Max are two of our little boy's favorites. Coming in Donald Duck was in the waiting area in an arranged photo op, so we took a picture, and got an autograph. When we went in to our seats we also met Alice and Goofy. We saw Max, and really hoped he would stop by, but unfortunately he was on his way to a break and never reappeared. The buffet was less appealing here, and I was surprised at all the junk food for breakfast, like peanut butter pizza, dirt cups (oreos and gummy worms) and ice cream. They did also have scrambled eggs, eggs benedict, asparagus, oatmeal....even a salad bar. There was cut fruit and a small cereal bar. It was alright, but I think the atmosphere wasn't as fun as at Storyteller's Cafe, maybe because Goofy's Kitchen has more of a "crank out the numbers" feel to it. It didn't feel as much like money well spent.

The character breakfasts were fun to do, and I think it is a nice part of any trip to Disneyland. Two years ago we went to Disneyland Paris around Christmas time, and we stayed at their Disneyland Victorian Hotel. There they have a big lobby area outside of the restaurant, and the characters show up for autographs and pictures. Once you go inside for breakfast they don't come in for table visits. Both versions of the character breakfast are nice but it's cool that you can sit at your table and be reasonably sure that a character will come by to say hi.

Our first day, a Thursday, was not too crowded. We had gone to City Hall with a doctor's note and been given a Guest Assitance Card for my son because he is on the autism spectrum and can get pretty antsy and agitated if he has to wait for more than 20-30 minutes. We folded it in half and put it into his lanyard holder so that it was visible and easy to show without ruining it. It was really not too busy that first day, so we were able to just go through the regular lines with out utilizing the GAC. the rest of our stay we did use it, as the crowds were huge.

On our first day we headed to Tomorrowland to go on Star Tours, because that was one of our son't favorite rides from our visit to DLP. That was before we went on Astro- Blasters, however. I think that is his new favorite ride. But when I think about it, he also really liked Space Mountain....

The Christmas atmosphere was very pretty, especially on It's A Small World. We made a point to come back to it at night because I had seen pictures of it on the Mouseplanet site :) I have to say though that without the cold it really was hard to imagine that it's almost Christmas time!

We saw the 50th anniversary parade, which was okay. The next night we saw the Block Party Bash. That was a great parade- the kids really enjoyed the dancers and a chance to see characters like Mike, Sully and George from Monsters, Inc. Next day we saw the Christmas parade, which restored our faith in Disney parades. It was pretty enjoyable with lots of cute moments.

Out in the parks we ate and ate. We had lunch at Pizza Port one day, which was passable. The French Market was fun- food was better and there was live music. At the Blue Bayou we sat by the water and watched boats being launched into the ride. My husband ate a seafood salad, and I had the crabcakes, which were good but overly seasoned. I passed on the famous Monte Cristo sandwich because I was eating a lot of French toast on this trip. Did I really need another fried bread meal?? Our last day we went to the Carnation Cafe, and it was really pleasant- probably the best service we had while eating in the park! It was a nice end to our eating experience at Disneyland because it was decent food with pricing points that matched up with the outside world- in the land of the $1.75 banana that's quite a remarkable restaurant.

Snacks we liked were Dole Whips, popcorn, Goofy sour powder, churros and Tiger Butter. We drank water to cancel out the calories from these items, by the way.

The best part of the trip was of course seeing our kids so enchanted by everything around them. Our 2 year old brightened everytime we went on It's A Small World, and she really had to be pried off of the Carrousel horses.
She loved her little golden mouse ears, and I think she really got a kick out of seeing her brother and me wearing ours too (Dad said he wasn't the ears type:)). Our 7 year old is such a great kid, and it made me so glad to see him be such a happy clam- you know, he was on equal footing with other kids in the whole experience; at home he may struggle to understand social situations but at Disneyland it's about experiencing fun, and he doesn't need anyone to explain it to him.

So our mouse ears are now lined up on mantle above the fireplace. We had a great time that will not soon be forgotten! Thanks for reading- I always like reading about other people's trips, and I hope mine was good to read- if a bit long.

annieb727
11-22-2005, 06:27 PM
sounds like a great trip! thanks for sharing! can't WAIT for ours!!

passthepixiedust
11-22-2005, 06:33 PM
Everyone always worries about trip reports being too long. Personally, I never think they are long enough ! Thanks for posting, it was great !

Alice Fan
11-22-2005, 06:39 PM
I SO enjoyed reading your trip report! Thanks for sharing, CandiBell!