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bobster
01-17-2006, 07:43 PM
MLK Weekend Adventures of Bobster and KTBug

Day 1, Friday the 13th.
I picked my 8 yr old daughter KTBug from school today. I told her that we had to hurry as we had a plane to catch. She gathered up her things and we were on our way. She had no clue where we were going. Finally an hour and a half later when we arrived at the airport she finally asked where we were going. I had a hard time keeping it secrete until then. I told here we were going to CA to visit some friends. When she asked which friends, I told her Mickey, and Minnie, etc. With the most precious look of surprise on her face she asked, were going to Disneyland.

Two flights and 4 hours later we arrived at Orange County Airport(SNA) only 20 minutes late. Of course our bags did not arrive. After jumping through the appropriate hoops with lost baggage we picked up our rental car and were on our way. In spite of missing a turn and getting lost we managed to arrive at the Disneyland Hotel only 30 minutes later. KTBug and I have been to Disneyland 3 other times each summer over the last 3 years but this is the first time we have flown into SNA. Previously we have flown into Ontario or LAX because those were the cheapest flights. This time flights into SNA were the cheapest. Because SNA is so handy I think in the future I will fly into SNA even if it costs a little more.

This was also our 1st time at DLH, previously we have stayed at PP and GCH. We had a pool view room on the 7th floor of the Bonita tower. I had made arrangements for a fruit basket to be on our room because I knew we would not have had dinner and we would be getting in late. This proved to be a godsend in more ways than one. The basket came with a plush Mickey doll which helped ease the trauma of KTBug’s Bunnybear being lost with the luggage. The basket also had a cool mug, sucker, and more apples, bananas, grapes, crackers, cheese, chocolate, cookies, and fruit snacks than we could eat over the weekend. Considering the money it saved on breakfast and snacks I think the basket was $64 well spent.

Saturday, Day 2
We decided that today would be all about rides so we left the camera and autograph book in the room. It was a sunny morning with only a hint of clouds, I was not sure at this time if I should trust the weather forecast of rain, but decided sweatshirts would be appropriate.
We arrived at the gates for early entry at 7:50, I was surprised how short the lines were compared to the summer crowds that we are used to. Of course we lined up in the line nearest to gate 13. After the countdown and line split we ended up about 5th in line at gate 12. The rope for Tomorrowland was down so we headed straight to Space Mountain. We rode Space twice, basically a walk on both times. Next was Buzz, Peter Pan which ended up being about the longest wait of the day, Snow White, and Pinocchio all basically before 9:00.
Next was Autotopia followed by a walk across the park to Critter Country collecting Fastpasses for everything we could along the way. I book through AAA and always stay on Disney property so that we can take advantage of enhanced fastpass. I believe this can save hours each day waiting in line so for me I think it is worth it.
Next we rode Winnie the Pooh, followed by Haunted Mansion. KTBug does not really like Splash Mountain and we did not feel like getting wet yet anyway. Next was Indy, followed by Jungle Cruise, followed again by Indy, followed by Pirates, followed by Indy again. Fast passes are so cool! By 10:30 it was raining pretty good and continued to rain off and on most of the day. Next we rode BTMRR followed again by Pirates. It seemed fitting to ride Pirates right before our 1:00pm lunch at Blue Bayou.

I got my Blue Bayou favorite the Monte Cristo, and of course KTBug got Mickey Nuggets. We also shared a very decadent piece of chocolate cake. After lunch we decided it was time for a break. We walked back across the park to the monorail station collecting more fastpasses along the way. I quick ride and a short walk brought us back to our room. We watched cartoons, Disney promotions, and napped for almost 3 hours before deciding we were ready to head back into the parks.

On our stroll through Downtown Disney we stopped at Pin Traders. I did not have any hope that they would have any of the Tinkerbell LE First Day of Winter pins available but thought it would not hurt to ask. As it turned out the guy at the register next to me just happened to be returning 2 of these, said that he had bought too many of them. I thought to myself, lucky me that you couldn’t sell them all on EBay.

Next we decided to head to CA to check out Monsters Inc. Maybe not one of my favorite rides but still think it is very cool. Next we went to Disney Animation and the place seemed almost empty to me. We spent a long time in Sorcerer’s Workshop, very relaxing and fun without the throngs of people we have experienced on previous trips. Next was Turtle Talk with Crush.

We decided to head back over to Disneyland and we also needed to pick up our tickets for 10:30 balcony Fantasmic seating. Of course Guest Services was closed and at the gate they sent us to Guest Relations. Guest Relations sent us to ticket booth #5. With our Fantasmic tickets in hand we headed back into Disneyland. We watched part of the parade then rode the DRR to Tomorrowland and rode Space and Autotopia. KTBug was hungry so we went to Village Haus for a little dinner. We shared a salad and Turkey sandwhich. The food here was better than I remembered from previous trips. Fireworks were cancelled due to wind. The 9:00pm Fantasmic ended early shortly after it began due to rain, I was a little worried about the 10:30 show but the rain stopped and things seemed to be drying out a little so I was still hopeful.

After dinner we rode BTMRR and then to Indy again before Fantasmic. I had never been to the Disney Gallery before, KTBug and I both agreed that it was pretty cool. On the way we also discovered which cast members have the coolest pins on their lanyards. I have also never done the balcony for Fantasmic either. Very cool, gives you a very cool perspective of the show I don’t think you could get anywhere else.

After Fantasmic I was ready to call it a day but KTBug wanted to keep going so we rode Indy yet again. KTBug does not think you can ride Indy too many times. After Indy we went to Fantasyland and rode Mr. Toads. Next we rode Dumbo and had so much fun we did it again. We also wanted to ride the Teacups but they were closed so we rode Alice. Just before midnight we rode Space one last time to end the day. A quick monorail ride and short walk and we were back at our room. KTBug was asleep as soon as her head hit the pillow. This is by far the biggest day we have ever had in the park.

Sunday, Day 3
After the day we had yesterday KTBug slept in till almost 9:30. After a breakfast of fruit from our basket we headed into the park for the 10:30 Discover the Magic Tour. Unlike yesterday today would be all about characters so we had our camera and autograph book in hand. While we were waiting for our tour we got to meet Goffy and got to see the Rededication Ceremony. I won’t say much about the Discover the Magic Tour as that could be a whole review just in itself. I am not quite sure what I thought of it but KTBug thought it was very cool and was very glad we did it. I must say it did give us character interactions I don’t think you could get any other way. Some of the highlights included a private meeting with Peter Pan and Wendy, riding the Carrousel with Mary Poppins and Bert, and a private meeting with Mickey himself. It was a very small group with only one other family and our tour guides Betsy and Allison (twin sisters) were the very best.

Our tour lasted a little over 3 hours and ended in Toontown. While there we met Pluto and rode Gadget Coaster and Roger Rabbit. Next we rode DRR 1 ½ times around and got off at Mainstreet to head over to CA. At CA we went to the Ugly Bug Ball and then headed into a bug’s land. We rode Filk’s Flyers and Ladybug. Next we headed to Sunshine Plaza for Black Party Bash. After the Bash we went to Ariel’s Grotto for dinner. I thought the food was o.k. but nothing special but the character interactions were great. Most of the princesses were their including Mulan, Snow White, Aurora, Belle, and Cinderella. After dinner we were about ready to call it a day. On our way back we used a Fastpass to ride Soarin. On our way in Downtown Disney we stopped at Pin Traders to spend our pin budget. We got the Friday the 13th pin which ironically was not released until today and also got a few Tinkerbell pins. We collect all pins Tinkerbell and a very friendly cast member went into the back and brought out all the cast lanyards she could find. We traded for all the Tinkerbell pins we did not already have. KTBug was asleep shorty after getting back to our room. I stayed up to pack and do a little reading but even I was out by 10:00pm.

Monday, Day 4
Today is our last day of the trip and a short one at that as our plane is scheduled to leave at 12:48. We were up early after a wake up call from Mickey. KTBug loves to answere the wake up calls. After another quick breakfast of fruit from our basket we headed to the park for early entry. Again the lines were rather short and we headed straight for Tomorrowland. Space was down due to a fire alarm so we went over to Buzz. After Buzz we rode Astro Orditor twice. Since we had not ridden teacups yet we headed over there and rode Teacups twice, once in the gold teacup. Next we went over to the Matterhorn and rode it, this time on the right side. We both decided that we like this side the best. It was now 9:00 so we decided to head over to Indy, on the way we stopped on rode Snow White again. After Indy we rode BTMRR and waited so that we could sit in the back. AKTBug thinks that this might be her favorite coaster, can’t decide if it is better than Space but at least just as good.

I realized with our travel we would not have a chance for lunch, so we went to the River Bell for pancakes. This is maybe my favorite breakfast spot in the park, and this morning it was not very busy at all. It was now time to get headed out of the park and on our way home but we could not resist riding Indy one more time.

On our way out of the Park we found a nice couple to donate our leftover fastpasses to. We have kind of made this a tradition, and we do it every time we are leaving the park and have extra Fastpasses. As we walk down Mainstreet KTBug picks out who the deserving couple will be. Usually it is a mother / daughter team but this time it was a grown up couple.

Back to our room to pick up our bags and checkout. We walked through the front door right at 11:00 and I was a little worried about the time. Though 45 minutes later we had gotten to the airport, turned in the car, checked in, gone through security and were at the gate with over an hour to spare. I decided I love this airport and I will never ever fly into LAX again, and only into ONT if the flight is significantly cheaper.

So ended our MLK weekend Disney trip and one of our best Disney trips ever.
:)

TDBearGrrl
01-17-2006, 08:10 PM
Great report!! Thanks for sharing!!!

DISNEYLAND GUY
01-17-2006, 08:22 PM
Sounds like you and your Daughter had an Excellent time! Thanks for Sharing!

josephfive
01-18-2006, 01:30 PM
What a great trip! And that was wonderful luck with the pins.
Thank you so much!

Jo5

MsYumiBr
01-18-2006, 01:41 PM
Did they find your luggage?

bobster
01-18-2006, 03:53 PM
Luggage was delivered right to the hotel. I called bell services first thing in the morning when I woke up to check, and they delivered right to the room only a few minutes later.

anniedg
01-18-2006, 09:07 PM
Thanks for the post - that was a lot of fun to read.
What a cool weekend!

kimi911
01-18-2006, 09:46 PM
How was the crowds? Saturday was rain, so that probably kept it down, but did you notice ride waits on Sunday and Monday?

Sounds like you had a great trip!! Awesome.

bobster
01-19-2006, 05:37 PM
How was the crowds? Saturday was rain, so that probably kept it down, but did you notice ride waits on Sunday and Monday?

Sounds like you had a great trip!! Awesome.

From the summer crowds I am used to, I did not think the crowds were too bad at any time. Saturday the longest wait I had was about 15 minutes and that was for Peter Pan during early entry. I took advantage of enhanced Fastpass and usually end up with more than I can use. When we rode Space midday I think the posted wait time was 40 minutes.

On Sunday the crowds were noticebly larger. Mid afternoon wait for
Gadget was 25 minutes. CA did not seem too crowded. Disney Animation in the evening seemed almost deserted. Wait for Soarin I think was posted at 35 minutes.

I left the park Monday morning about 10:30. Before then our longest wait was about 10 minutes for the Matterhorn.