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View Full Version : Detailed, Detailed, Detailed Trip Report 11/30-12/03



hotshot
12-05-2005, 09:06 PM
My daughter (almost 8) and I (28) just returned from DL and I vowed to myself that I would contribute my trip report to the MP collections.

This is a lot of detail because I enjoy reading all of the details on other reports so just be warned…

Background: I decided that we would be going to DL back in June. Originally it was going to be us and three other friends from church and my 22 yo lil sis, but it wasn’t really a priority for them, so they didn’t really put enough effort into saving their money and at the end of they day it was just my baby and I- which was perfect.

Here we go…

We were originally planning to go in October, but my finances weren’t quite right especially since I would be footing the whole bill. I decided to wait until the first few days of December, not to close to Christmas and after all the crowds from T-day are gone.
After I decided to postpone the trip, I was so anxious that I wanted to at least do something that would ensure I locked in a date. I went to priceline.com and bid $43 for the DL area. My bid was accepted for the Crowne Plaza. I had read up on what my options would be if I bid and I was pleased that I got the CP- although I preferred the Hyatt. Now I know both of these hotels are not within walking distance, but they have their own shuttle and it worked out well. I am a little picky when it comes down to rooms and I felt quite comfortable during our stay. More about that later..

Okay so now we have our hotel- we are definitely going 11/30-12/03- yeah!

The next decision will be whether or not we drive or fly… let’s see how much it cost?? Okay we are driving. I live in the bay area and after the transfer fees we were looking at nearly $300. I tried to do the priceline thing for a car, but out of San Jose I could not get anything accepted in the $16-$19 range for a full size. Well it turns out that as I was searching different rental car places and I found a Thrifty standard size rate for $16. $74 for four days.. cool huh- I thought so..

Got the car and hotel- I was praying for gas prices to go down and they did, so it was all coming together.

I got the 2 day hoppers (I wish I had planned for 3 days..) through my job- $160 for both of ours... My boss got them for me... He is a great guy!

11/29- night before we leave- I had a meeting to go to that night so did not get to start packing until 9:30pm or so. What to bring? I had been monitoring the weather and I knew that there was a chance for rain on Friday.. Well I figured I had a car so I could pack anything and everything I wanted just to be safe and I did! Okay so now it’s 2am – time to go to sleep- I am exhausted, yet soooo excited -today all of my planning actually comes to fruition.

11/30- goal was to be out of the house and headed to the rental car place by 8:30- yeah right! I got up around 7:45 and started cleaning the house… who wants to come home to junk –especially dishes in the sink. Yuck.. Okay 9:00a time to get Jaylah up and in the shower. She is already up laying in the bed watching Spongebob…. “Guess where we are going to day??” I say… She gets a huge grin on her face! Okay she is now getting ready and I am finishing up with last minute packing stuff. Time for me to get in the shower, but before I do I call my mom who is taking us to the car place to let her know I will be ready in about .5 hours…(Just fyi- I have a 97 Altima and I did not want to put the miles on it – I am thoroughly enjoying not having a car payment and want it to last me as long as possible)

Mom arrives at 9:45 and we head to the bank, then the Thrifty. They don’t have a Dodge Magnum!!! Taurus.. no I don’t want a Taurus- then she says I can give you a Jeep Liberty at the midsize rate… I’ll take it! We head back home to load the car (SJC is about 5 minutes away from me) and that takes a good hour- I wanted to make sure I had everything.

I was on a budget, so I brought my toaster and some butter, utensils with plans to stop by the store and get some things for breakfast. (This was a great tip I got from someone here- it was so nice to not have to worry about where to eat in the morning- we ate as we got ready and were off to the parks- it was perfect).
I got some movies from Netflix and brought my laptop for Jaylah during the drive. Okay I think that is it. Let’s go.. stopped at the store and got some cereal, milk, bread, croissants, water, chips, and some bananas. And we are off.

We officially ended up on the road at 12:45- I pray over the car and the entire trip and we are off- (He is so good!) but had to stop for ten minutes or so to get the movie on the laptop going. We made one stop in Visalia at Taco Bell at 2:50 and another at the Grapevine to get some gas (didn’t want to get stuck in the mountains) $2.79!!! I don’t think so… I got $10 worth and headed out.

I did not know what everyone meant when they said LA traffic. I mean I knew that I would be arriving around 5pm- but geez! Bumper to Bumper to Bumper to Bumper…..
I am not sure how long it should have taken, but we were stuck there for a good 90 minutes or so- we made the best of it and I let Jaylah beat me at the license plate game. We arrive at the Crowne Plaza at 7:15pm. About 6.25 hours from the bay area is not bad I guess.

We check in and we get room 440. As I am trying to get up to the room to use the bathroom the concierge stops to give my some free dining card… It ends up that she want me to attend a 90 minutes timeshare presentation. In return she will give me $100 Disney Dollars… hmmmmmmmmmm. Okay so when would I be able to do this. I would have to break away from my DL time- but $100 DD?? Well I did it 3:30pm the next day- I’d be there (they had a play room for Jaylah right next door).

Okay we unload the car and park, I check the fridge to see if I can get the milk in there (it is SoyMilk, so it was okay in the car all day) I knew that the fridge was filled with overpriced stuff- what I did not know is that none of it could be moved or taken out without you being charged for it- it was a computerized refrigerator, interesting- well there was an empty space so I got the milk to fit.… I ordered takeout from Outback, Jaylah had a bath and it is about 10pm- time to lay down it had been a long day…

12/01- Alarm goes off at 8:30. I am up and in the shower- I wake J up and she is getting dressed. Well I did not plan for enough time to get ready and eat so we miss the first bus (CP has their own shuttle they share with the Hyatt, runs like clockwork, it was great) that leaves at 9:35, no worries- we slow the pace a little, I french braid her hair and we head downstairs to catch the 10:05. We get to the gates and all the old memories come rushing back- I had not been in about 6 years and although Jaylah had gone when she was 2 she didn’t remember anything. Okay so the forefront of my mind is “what are the crowds going to be like….” I walk into Main St, and there are people everywhere. I knew that it was unpredictable and had my RideMax list in my backpack just in case- but only the wait times would really tell me how the day was going to go. Out first ride is Mr Toad’s… J is scared…. WHAT! If she is scared of this I have not got a chance with Space Mountain or anything else I so love here… I start to get nervous thinking about the next day and a half just walking around and going to shows… okay well- let’s just walk by Space Mountain and see how long the wait is (btw, wait time for the toad was about 5 minutes). Get to SM at about 11:15 - 10 MINUTES!!! What??? Okay, so I calmly begin to tell J about the ride and what it is like,- she wants to ride… We wait for about 10 minutes and I could see the nervousness in her face- I tell her that she does not have to ride if she does not want to… she says she does and get’s a little annoyed because I keep asking her if she is sure.. Okay so I forgot how fast and ambiguous that ride is…. I was a little scared myself on it… It does seem a bit faster than I remember- but it was fun. HISTA is next and she kept her glasses off and feet up after the bug scene.. Next is Small World 3 minute wait - she loved it…then to Matterhorn- she did not like the snow monster, but she liked the ride. (It ended up being her fave). That was a 10 minute wait. We are hungry now so we go eat at Club Buzz (I think that is what it is called) Burger and Fries for $17.. I had waters and Capri-suns in the backpack. Now what- she wants to go shopping. It is about 2 and we need to start heading back toward Main St anyway cause I have a timeshare prezo at 3:30.
Okay well we get back to the hotel at 3:10- the free DSL has not been working since I arrived and they send someone up… they still cannot get it to work… I just end up using my blackberry to check emails. I attend the timeshare prezo with no intent to buy and I told them that in the beginning… they thought I was joking or something cause they proceeded to try and convince me I needed to invest $60k with $7k down on vacation points. I kindly said no, no, and no and after about 1 hour 45 minutes I was headed back up to my room with $100 Disney Dollars in hand… that was easy! I felt bad for the sales guy- but hey I told’em.

Back to DL to see the parade and Remember. We got back to the park a little before 6- I was trying to situate myself near the hub and the curb near the parade but ppl were pretty packed in (people get so touchy when it comes to their spots- I mean I understand that you have been there a while saving it, but you can just politely say “I’m sorry this is taken”, I would have to say that is one of the few times I was not happy at the happiest place…)

Remember is a little more important than the Parade so we sit right smack dab in the center of the castle on the sidewalk of the hub, We tried to watch the parade from there- I even had my 72lb, 8 yo on my shoulders at one point (I have no idea how I did that)- but we did not get to see it that well. It is now 7pm or so and we have another 45 minutes to wait, so we wait and people watch The show was great- I did not get the whole wanting to cry thing – but it was a great show.
The next image I have in my mind are human ducks waddling down Main St. That is just what we were doing trying to get out of there. There were so many people trying to go the same place all at once and you could only move a few tiny steps at a time- so we just kinda all waddled toward the exit- It was actually quite funny to watch everyone in the same motion hardly moving anywhere.. We stop at the Main St general store and Jaylah wants a snowglobe- the line is crazy so I promise her tomorrow we will get one.

We catch the 8:50 bus and are back at the hotel by 9:05. We get Red Robin for dinner (I hated eating so late, but it is so hard to stay on schedule at that place) (RR is in the hotel parking lot) Final day at Disney tomorrow- I couldn’t believe it was almost over… Still no DSL and now no hot water!!- they are having water problems they say- Jaylah can take a bath in the morning… and we are asleep by 11…

More to come later

Mommy2NicknMax
12-06-2005, 08:47 AM
Great trip report! Can't wait to hear more! :)

TowerofTerror
12-06-2005, 08:55 AM
Greta report sound like you all had a good time.

Alice Fan
12-06-2005, 09:25 AM
Great trip report so far, thanks for sharing! Can't wait for the next installment!

BTW - my husband and I call that waddle you described as "The Disneyland Shuffle" lol...

Shelli

Gramiangel420
12-06-2005, 10:15 AM
I am loving your report. It makes me sad that I do not have a date for my next trip. I am anxiously waiting the rest of your report.
Thank you for sharing, it sounds like you and your DD had a wonderful time.:)

hotshot
12-09-2005, 10:38 AM
Okay and here we go again… I am so sorry for the delay in the 2nd part of this report… I guess I kinda got back to the daily hustle and bustle.

Let me start by giving you a hotel review for the Crowne Plaza Anaheim/Garden Grove-

I entered the hotel and I was very pleased to see the lobby nicely decorated for Christmas (You know it is Christmas- we celebrate when Christ was born… this “Holiday” nonsense is ridiculous..) anyway- the lobby looked great, but I know that the lobby can be absolutely fab and the rooms can be absolutely awful. We check in and the front desk was kinda friendly (it appeared that they were a little busy and I was interupting them—but they got me checked in pretty quick)- I asked for a nice room and smiled friendly, he told me that all the rooms were pretty much the same… whatever.. So as we are walking up to check out the room before unloading the car the “concierge/timeshare” lady stops to give me a free restaurant card that will allow me discounts at some of the local restaurants. That is her lure to get my attention- she then asks if I would be interested in getting $100 free Disney Dollars- (of course). I knew immediately that this would involve a timeshare presentation, but continued to listen to her- she explained that there was no obligation to purchase and eventually I agreed to attend-you can see the first section of the report for other details. Back to the hotel: we head up to room 440 and I am very impressed with what I see. The first thing I notice is the large windows- it covered just about one entire wall of the room. The view was of the city, but it was nice. Okay so the room is pretty large (it was a king). There is a desk over in the corner near the window with two chairs and an lounge chair with an ottoman also near the window. I knew that the Crowne specialized in their beds, and as I expected the beds were so comfortable. The alarm clocks had a CD- they also had a “Sleep Advantage” system that included a CD to listen to when you were sleeping, lavendar spray for the bedding, and an eyemask thing to wear while sleeping- I did not use any of it though). The down comforter was lovely and the sheets were soooo soft! The room was really clean. They had a little nook where the coffee was that you could place other food items on (that is where I prepared breakfast everyday with my little toaster I had brought from home). The room had a mini-bar (fridge packed with overpriced items, that had a sensor- so if you moved anything your room was auto-charged). For the bathroom- it was a good size, nice granite countertop. The bath tub was average- but clean. And most importantly the water pressure was great, and it also drained well (one of my pet peeves- I cannot stand to take a shower/bath cause of poor drainage). Although the second night we were there the hot water did not work… that was a little weird- but I am glad it was at night and not the morning time. By the next morning it was working fine- so no biggie. I never needed to turn on the heat nor the air, so I can’t comment on that. There is a $9 resort fee daily that is suppose to pay for free DSL, the shuttle, and parking – however my DSL never worked when I was there.. I was very disappointed about that, but I was able to go the lobby and use the free wireless there. Parking was at across the way at Joe’s Crab Shack- it says 3 hour max, but that is where the front desk told me to park so I did…it turned out fine. I loved Target being right across the street and I also loved that Outback and RedRobin were in the same parking lot. Would I stay here again? Absolutely in a heartbeat- inspite of the water issue, and the DSL- I felt so comfy in the room (the walls have nice faux paint and warm colors) It was very homey and spacious. And for $43/night + $9 resort fee – I got a steal!

Day 2- 12/02/05
It’s Friday and we are up at 7:30. Jaylah has to take a bath cause the hot water did not work the night before…She gets in the tub and I am getting our clothes ready. It is suppose to rain today, so I am frantically looking for news stations that are at the forecast portion of their broadcast- channel 4- to 7, back to 4, then 11.. Finally I get some lady saying that there was going to showers- my heart sinks… I was hoping they were forecasting wrong.. well that was only one opinion- lets turn the channel again- someone else said not until later in the day (okay that is better). So I knew we could be getting wet, but I remembered reading about rain at DL and the one comment that stuck out in my mind is “it’s just water, enjoy yourself”- so I decided it was not the end of the world and continued with our morning. J is out the tub and getting dressed. I fix her cereal and get in the shower. Get dressed and eat my croissant and banana while doing my make-up. We are running out of time the bus leaves at 8:35- okay fine we will just catch the 9:05. I get the backpack packed and we head down. As we walk outside we see the bus driving off- no worries, let’s go across the street to Target and get some cough drops (J had been coughing that morning), and maybe some rainboots and a poncho for her. We are in and out of Target in 20 minutes and just on time to catch the 9:35 shuttle.

We get to the parks and I can tell by the line at the gate that today is going to be different than yesterday. We get in in about 10 minutes and Main St is a zoo- but really when isn’t it. We head to FL- I want to do the dark rides- and I try to get J to get on Peter Pan- the line looked about 5 minutes long (if that)- she looks like she is about to cry “I don’t want to go on this…” fine- “excuse us” as we head back out the line. Let’s go over to Thunder Mountain. On our way we stop at Santa’s RRU and we see Pluto and Dale (I think). We get a gingerbread man and decorate him ($5) and I get a rice crispy treat ($3.5). The CM there is very nice and she stops and chats with us for a while. We take a pic with Pluto and are on our way to BTTM (?). Jaylah rides and like it kinda---I am not sure what causes her to like some rides more than others- I can’t find the pattern… (the wait was 5 min @ appx. 10:30). Next is Matterhorn (10 min)- she lovesss it! Question for ya’ll- is one side slower than the other?- the ride seemed a lot faster yesterday when we were on the other side. Now it’s time for ToonTown- she loves it- not to fond of RR, but loves Gadgets coaster and the overall ambience in TT. I was not trying to stand in those lines just for Mickey and Minnie and J really didn’t have much of an interest either…We take the train over to New Orleans to ride the Jungle Cruise- she is kinda scared of that too- but says it is okay. I don’t think she likes not being in control and feeling vulnerable to the different things that are on rides- that are slow moving… I dunno… Anyway.
I think we headed over to DCA after that. This was our first time over there.. We got FP’s for Soarin even though standby was only 25 minutes. We went on GRR- she loved that…. I got soaked and she wanted to do it a second time (both times were walk-ons)… it was fun. Next we went over to Screamin- I WAS NOT getting on that- Jaylah on the other hand begged… I mean begged to go on it. I told her she would have to go by herself- she said okay… What???? She can’t do PeterPan but she can do Screamin???? Well I would not let her- I couldn’t maybe I was projecting my fears on her- but by herself? My baby? Nope- sorry.. maybe next time when Auntie Kisha comes, but not today. She wasn’t trippin to hard and we went and got on the Ferris Wheel… not sure if I like being up that high – but it was a nice view. Next is Muhl..Madness. note: I am not a dip drop person, my stomach cannot handle it at all! That dropping sensation that so many people love terrifies me. Well even though it is a mini coaster- there is a nice size drop. And even worse. I did not know about it- now I had examined the ride from the ground and I did not notice it- but it was there- two of ‘em. This first being the worse! So we ride- it’s about 15 minute wait Jaylah loves it and I walk off rather disturbed- but it wasn’t Screamin or anything… Jaylah wants to ride again… Oh my. Well the guilt from not letting her ride Screamin caused me to ride it again- the things you will do for your kids. I figure maybe I will be used to it now that I know it is coming—nope.. I screamed and none of that ahhhhhh it was from my gut- ooooaaaaauuuggghhh! Okay she is happy- let’s go to the bakery and Mission Tortilla- she doesn’t want to, but I make her. We get some Soup in a breadbowl and a water (I had ran out of them in my bag) and it is $22.. then we go get a spot for BPB at 5:15 (I think) we got a great spot on the curb and ate our soup. I was singing along and it was great! Jaylah got a ball- cool. Now lets head over to Aladdin- last show at 6:00- I hope we get in. We rush over and go to the Mezz level- a CM told us that one is better cause you can see the carpet ride. I agree. The show was fabulous and we enjoyed every minute. I forgot to mention that it had began to sprinkle during BPB and by the time we got out of Aladdin is was light showers. We go ride Soarin- that was totally cool. We had FP’s so we wait about 10 min. She wants to ride again- so we go to standby and wait about 20 minutes. We change into her rainboots and buy her a poncho (I didn’t find one for her at Target earlier). Time to head back to DL. I forgot to mention that before we left DL we had done about an hour of shopping and J’s new thing is snowglobes- she had gotten two by the end of the trip. (Oh and we loved spending those DD- it was such a nice add to our trip)

Okay this is getting a little too long so I am going to sum up the rest of the trip. We go on Pirates- she cries and closes her eyes.. I assure her that they are not real- but they look ohh so real, I don’t think she believed me.. The rest of the evening is sort of a blur… it was wet- I know we tried to watch Fantasmic but she could not see that well. BTTMR was broken (am I suppose to say 101- I still don’t know what 101 means). And we head to Matterhorn (20 min). We ride again and then go check out the wait time for Space…65 minutes with no FP’s. We’ll pass- we got FP’s for Buzz, but it had been a long day so we ride Matterhorn again (I think). We head down Main- our feet hurt and we are hungry and it’s wet. We say goodbye and as we are leaving Remember starts.. what a moment. Two days was just not enough… We get back to the hotel and go to the car to get gas and grab something to eat- it’s around 10:30 though and I don’t really want to eat late… J agrees to eat some cereal back at the room and we get gas, and end up going by DTD just to see what it looks like. Back at the hotel by 11:30 and crashed by midnight.

12/03- We get up and pack and are out of the hotel by 11:15. Stopped at Mimi’s mmmmmmmmm- I wish we had eaten there more. It was soooo good and soooo inexpensive. J got french toast, eggs, bacon, and a side of potatos and I got an omelette for $17 bucks- and that included a coffee and the potatos were extra. Pretty good huh. Okay well it is 11:32 and J has a min day today and gets out at 11:45. So in closing I’ll say we got home in 5.5 hours and we can’t wait to go back…. Thanks for reading and for all the wonderful info everyone provides here! Blessings and Merry Christmas!

DCACM
12-09-2005, 10:17 PM
Thanks for sharing. So often people report the negatives, nice to read that you and your daughter had a great time.

Next time you're at Screamin' when she wants to ride and you don't, ask a CM to ride with her. I've gone rafting with kids whose parents didn't want to get wet and soarin' with kids whose parents have to stay behind with infants. the kids have a great time, the parents appreciate it, and it breaks up my day.

SneakyStella
12-10-2005, 06:51 AM
DCACM~
That is great to know. Personally, there is no ride that I won't ride but just knowing that the CM's are allowed to do that makes me love that place that much more. Just goes to show how accommodating the CM's are. The DL Resort is truly a magical place, thanks for helping make it that way!

CrazyTrain
12-10-2005, 10:54 AM
LOVED this trip report!
thanks for shaing! :D

hotshot
12-10-2005, 01:32 PM
I am so glad that you guys enjoyed it. I know it was really long- but the long detailed ones are my favorite - it's kinda like reading a book and the more detail the easier it is to be right "there" with the writer..
Great tip on asking the CM's to ride.... I forgot to tell you guys about Indy... We were walking through the line and Jaylah remembered the DL special we saw on the Travel Channel that had a preview of Indy-- all she remembered as we were walking through the non-existent line was the eyes she saw on TV. She cried and there was no way she was getting on. Well I asked the CM once we got to the front (in about 4 minutes) if she could wait here for me and surprisingly they said yes! I was so happy- I thought there would have been some type of liability issue- but for them to be so accommodating was very impressive.

Anyway thanks again for the tip and thanks for reading.

Pirate Princess
12-10-2005, 07:30 PM
Great trip report!!!
I can't wait to go on Monday!!!
I totally agree about the unknown pattern of what children will ride. My son (4) is so weird about what he will and won't ride. I don't get how he prejudges something just from the line. Some lines have scary atmosphere and he will go on some of them, but those with the pleasant atmosphere he will and won't go on too. :confused: