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View Full Version : Trip Report 12/2-12/10 Kinda Long



silence
12-11-2005, 09:42 AM
Well, here is my review of our last 8 days at Disneyland. There were 5 in our main party: Hubby, DS (7), DD (2), Mom and I. We also had family from Virginia: SIL, BIL, Nephew (5) Chicago: SIL, and San Diego: Brother, Nephew (7), Niece (2).


We stayed in the Disneyland Hotel for the first time ever. LOVED IT, it is the only way to go for us now. We were in the Bonita tower and had a pool view. From the 11th floor we could see the Matterhorn and fireworks. Very cool. There were 5 of us (3 adults and 2 children) and we had plenty of room.

We did balcony seating for Fantasmic the first night (Saturday 12/2) for the 9:00 show. There were 9 of us in our party. LOVED the seats, we were the 2nd group seated. It was VERY crowded up there though, not a lot of room to even get up and get your desserts. Unfortunately the fireworks were cancelled due to wind so we didn’t get to stay and watch from our seats.

Early entry for hotel guests rocks. Got in early every day and did the Fantasy Land rides with the little ones. Hardly any lines all week during early entry was nice with a heavy 2 year old that only wanted Mommy to hold her.

We did Goofy’s Kitchen for Dinner on Monday since the park closed early. What a nightmare! Again, we had 9 in our party and reservations were made 60 days in advance. We were seated in the room right when you walk in. We had little to NO character interaction. What a disappointment. One table next to us left after just one character came by and the little girl was crying. We asked for the manager multiple times. We could see all the characters going up into the “middle” section but they never came to our section. The supervisor said she was “trying” to get Rafiki to come over. Trying? Make it happen. We paid a fortune for dinner for our group. We will not go back to Goofy’s again. We did breakfast here on our last trip and had a wonderful time. If we had just walked in off the street, maybe it wouldn’t have bothered me so much to get such a bad table, but we had our reservations done in plenty of time.

We went to Medieval Times for dinner on Tuesday. Very cool, the boys in our group loved this. My only recommendation would be to buy a seat for any toddlers. They can sit on your lap, but there is no room and way to hard to eat with a squirmy 2 year old.

We made side trips to Sea World and Universal Studios. Sea World was just dead. We had 12 in our group that day so it was really nice. Universal had GREAT character interaction, my kids were in heaven meeting Sponge Bob and Dora. Hardly any wait for anything. Hubby and I did the Mummy ride, boy that is a short ride!

We ate at the Plaza Inn for breakfast on Friday. Now that is a character breakfast! The food was great and we met Chip and Dale, Eyeore, Peter Pan, Wendy, Captain Hook and Minnie. We saw Tigger walking around too. My DD wore her Minnie costume and got her picture with Minnie, it made it all worth it!

I think the longest lines all week for us was Indy. Seemed even with a Fast Pass we were standing in long lines for that one. The others, even Space Mountain were 15-20 minutes at most for us.

We also did the Disney Dining package. With 8 days, we just bought the 3 day books and it was perfect for our group. We just combined the dollar amounts and it worked well for us. I liked “prepaying” for our food, it meant less hassle in budgeting for us.

The kids did their Build A Bear on Friday afternoon. The lines after the park closed on Thursday were insanely long. It is definitely a “do during the day” activity if you have young ones that don’t do lines well.

We watched the fireworks from Small World on Thursday and we got out of the park just fine. Friday was a nightmare crowd control wise. We couldn’t go anywhere it seemed. We got “trapped” with Fantasmic going on and the madness on Mainstreet awaiting the fireworks. After the fireworks we couldn’t seem to find a way out of the park. I posted on another thread about the madness between the Matterhorn and the Nemo wall. Not one CM to be found in that area and it was just crazy. The line for the monorail was an hour long they said, though since we were hotel guests I think we only waited 5 minutes. OH, a word about that. Thursday we were 2nd in line in the guest line for the monorail after the fireworks. The group in front of us had lined up super early to be in the front or back car. The CM’s let the “standby” line in first, ahead of hotel guests and they didn’t get to ride in their preferred car. Seemed like a bad situation to me….why do they advertise priority seating for hotel guests? That poor boy looked so sad.

Anyways, it was a wonderful trip. Hubby wants to try the Grand Californian next trip. I think we will wait until after the 50th and before Christmas next year….so I guess October?

Walt'sbirthdaygirl
12-11-2005, 12:00 PM
Great trip report, thanks. You should still give some thought to the Grand next December, it's so beautiful at Christmastime. Hopefully it won't be so nutty busy next year, we have never seen it so insane at the Holidays.

Leaving in two days for our annual December Disney excursion, staying off property for the first time, we shall see how that goes.

disneyhound
12-11-2005, 01:09 PM
...The line for the monorail was an hour long they said, though since we were hotel guests I think we only waited 5 minutes. OH, a word about that. Thursday we were 2nd in line in the guest line for the monorail after the fireworks. The group in front of us had lined up super early to be in the front or back car. The CM’s let the “standby” line in first, ahead of hotel guests and they didn’t get to ride in their preferred car. Seemed like a bad situation to me….why do they advertise priority seating for hotel guests? That poor boy looked so sad... I think the term "priority seating" means that they will get you on the next monorail. They already bump hotel guests ahead of the "unwashed". ;) I guess that doesn't mean "premium seating". Thanks for the report!

silence
12-13-2005, 04:24 AM
I think the term "priority seating" means that they will get you on the next monorail. They already bump hotel guests ahead of the "unwashed". ;) I guess that doesn't mean "premium seating". Thanks for the report!

Oh OK. I guess it just stunk as they had lined up well before they started letting anyone else line up in the other line. I'm sure they would have started in the other line if they had known.

hlbtimes2
12-13-2005, 12:30 PM
.

Anyways, it was a wonderful trip. Hubby wants to try the Grand Californian next trip. I think we will wait until after the 50th and before Christmas next year….so I guess October?


From what I've heard there wont really be a time between the 50th and the holiday decorations. The 50th will end as they get ready for the holidays in early Nov.

We were also disappointed with our trip to Goofys. We hardly had any interaction at all, and the food wasnt great either.