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View Full Version : March 11-14 Trip Report (long)



PrincessRose
03-15-2006, 09:56 AM
Hey everyone! We just got home last night and here's the report of the trip. It was me, my hubby and our nearly 2-year-old son. Trip was great overall but the crowds were awful. This was our first time in the DLH, which was both great and disappointing all at once. Here's the nitty gritty details:

Sat March 11:
We departed the San Francisco Bay Area after work around 4:45pm and sailed right along out to I-5, stopping in Santa Nella for some split pea soup. Yum. Then we headed on down the road to Buttonwillow where we planned on stopping for the night at the Motel 6.
We saw a flashing sign just before Buttonwillow that said the Grapevine was closed for snow. Good thing we were planning on stopping and had ressies because the Motel 6 booked out.


Sun March 12:
Nervous about traffic with the grapevine closure and considering taking an alternate route to the coast and down 101, we got up before 7am. But, it was sunny and clear, so we grabbed some breakfast and headed down towards the grapevine. By the time we got to where traffic was stopped, it was 8:45am. We decided to wait it out instead of taking a detour and the pass opened at 9:45. Smooth sailing all the way to Anaheim.
We checked in at DLH at 1pm, only an hour later than I'd planned. The CM told me they had a single queen available (we requested a King) in the Marina Tower, and so I went ahead and took it. When we got to the 9th floor, our room was the last one in the hallway at the west end and it was T I N Y. I mean S M A L L. Hardly enough room for the crib we'd requested. But, it had a bit of a view of the park if you stood on the balcony, so we settled for that. Unpacked a little then headed for DCA.
Walked right thru the gates at DCA and headed for Award Weiners for some lunch. The line was crazy long so we went over to Corndog Castle instead. It was about a 15 minute line. After eating, we cruised along the boardwalk & I grabbed a FP for Screamin' as the line was 50 mins long. Headed to Bugs Land and took DS on Heimlich which was a 20 minute wait. At this point I realized my worst fears had come true: spring break had started and the crowds were out of control. We gave ITTBAB a try but DS didn't like it. Time for my FP and I have a WONDERFUL memory of my son smiling & waving at me just before the train took off. Headed over to Redwood Challenge where all 3 of us had a BLAST! We'd never been in there before and it was really a lot of fun. The swining bridges were hilarious and I felt like a stumbling drunk.
Finished up at Redwood just in time to grab a table by Burrrbank for Block Party. We snagged the seats 5 minutes before parade time. LOVED the parade! Wow! What a show! It was fabulous!
Tired from the drive, we headed back to the room to rest a little, then get some dinner. Plan was to go back for Fantasmic. Got to the room and found they'd delivered a rollaway not a crib. We weren't mad about this, but found it kind of funny since it wouldn't fit anywhere the room was that small. Called housekeeping and they had it fixed in about 30 minutes.
Found all the restaurants along Harbor and Katella to be packed, so we drove into Garden Grove. No luck. Headed back and ended up at the Jolly Roger Restaurant. Food was pretty good, service was awful. And, the wait and the drive made it impossible to make it to Fantasmic.
Finished dinner at 8:40pm and DH got us some Baileys at the quickstop and we headed back to the room. Settled atop our bed and watched the Fireworks from our room which was the perfect ending to our first day. Ordered some dessert room service at 9:40 then put DS to bed. Dessert arrived at 10:30 and the flourless choco cake I had was DELICIOUS. DH said apple pie was outstanding. Had some bailey's and went ni ni under Tink's pixie dust. So cute!


Mon March 13:
We woke up feeling rested and rarin' to go. The mattress and pillows were sooooooo comfy so we slept really well. I was hopeful the crowds died down a bit especially after seeing a bunch of folks checking out. Got some beignets at Jazz Kitchen Express then headed over to DL. Great Find: JKE has free refills on sodas. Filled up and took off.
The line at the entrance to DL was a little disheartening but it was only 9:15 so we figured it was just opening time crowds. Boy, were we wrong.
Grabbed FPs for Space Mtn then headed over to Buzz, our favorite ride at WDW. Waited about 15 mins but line doubled after us. CM wouldn't let the 3 of us ride together, which was a total bummer. DS loved this ride at WDW in October but 1/2 way thru this time, he panicked and needed to sit in my lap. Loved the email photo option! That was great.
DS was begging for the choo choo so we boarded at Tomorrowland for a 360 trip around the park. Train and station was virtually empty so we sat way up front. By the time we got back to Tomorrowland, the station was packed. My heart sank as now I knew we'd be fighting crowds all day.
DS asked for the "cars" so we went to Autopia and stood in line for 40 minutes or so. DS was in "mommy mode" and would only ride with me. I didn't think they'd let him drive, but the CM said he could steer, which made both our days. He couldn't see over the dash, and had no concept of how to drive, so it was a WILD, jerky ride to say the least. But we had fun. Stopped to take his photo in the booth after so he could have an Autopia drivers license.
Now it was nearly at the end of our FP time for SM, so I took off running to the ride. FP wait was 15 minutes. Standby was 90. LOVED SM. The changes are AWESOME. Had to run out the exit so DH could make his FP. He loved it too.
Let DS run around the water-ball outside SM and "play" the games in the arcade before attempting to get some lunch at Buzz's. Line was stupid long so we decided to go to DTD via monorail. It was around 12:15 when we made this decision.
Waited about 10 minutes for the monorail then had a nice ride. Spotted a nice table at Tortilla Jo's and had a really great lunch. There was hardly anyone around and the sun was out. No line to order and food was ready in 5 minutes. It was a much more relaxing experience than dealing with the lunch crowds at DL.
Now here comes our second disappointment of the DLH. Got to our room at 1pm and it hadn't been cleaned yet. I thought DH was going to cry. DS needed a nap. So, I suggested we go swim for awhile since the housekeeper was 2 rooms down. DS LOVED and I mean LOVED the baby slide at Neverland pool. We played out there for 40 minutes, and he was going down the slide or jumping in the entire time. So much fun! Some of the parents of older kids were shocked at my son's No Fear attitude towards the water. What a proud mama I was at that moment.
Headed back to the room at about 2:10. Our room was still unmade. DH was really mad and so was I. Decided to put DS down for nap and go from there. I peaked out awhile later and housekeeper was 6 rooms down. At about 3:30pm, DH peaked out and they were at the room across from us. When they saw him they said they could clean our room now. DH said our son was napping and it would be probably 30-40 minutes before we were done. They said no problem as they had to do the other room anyway. DS woke up a few minutes later and we were out of the room at 4:08pm but housekeeping was gone. DH went back and called and asked if our room could be done now. They said absolutely.
We dashed over to the character warehouse and bought a couple things. Then had dinner at Red Robin. On our way into the park at 6:15pm, DH went up and our room was still unmade. I wanted to see the parade, so we let it go for now and headed over to DL. We got there at 6:30 and the place was CRAZY with crowds. CRAZY. We split up to find a good spot for the parade and ended up standing behind some benches in front of the train station. Not bad except for the family who literally shoved their way next to us.
We LOVED the parade. I cried as I always do. DS was dazzled too. DH, who isn't a big parade guy, couldn't stop talking about both Dreams and Block all night.
The post-parade crowds were insane, so we went over to the Steamboat Willie collage and took some photos since our photos are all in this collage. Then headed over to Small World.
Wait was probably 15 minutes and we boarded our boat at 8pm on the nose. Then, my very worst "stuck on a ride" fear occurred: we got stuck on Small World for about 15 minutes. Ugh! Ride went along okay until the end when the traffic jam in the final room before the postcards caused our boat to tip and take on water! No joke! Everyone on the right side of the boat got wet! It was about 10 minutes more before we got off the ride at 8:30pm. Yes, Small World took us 30 minutes. We need psyhcotherapy.
Realizing there really wasn't enough time to get any other rides in before getting a spot for the fireworks, we just battled the crowds thru fantasyland and frontierland until we got to main street. Found a bench in townsquare and I went for mochas and cookies. Left my hubby at 8:55pm and got back with the goodies at 9:20pm. Yikes!
The fireworks were out of this world. We loved them and it gave us chills. Hearing Walt's voice of course made me cry, I'm such a sap for that man and his imagination. From there, we headed back to our room where DS begged us to go "slide" at the pool. Of course, it was too cold, so we just cruised around the grounds. It was a crazy day crowd-wise but still a lot of fun.

Tue March 14:
Got up, packed up the car, grabbed some breakfast at Coco's then headed to DL with the droves of other people. The security line was to La Brea. I took DS in his stroller and went in to DL while DH looked for his ticket. Couldn't find it. That's when I realized I had his ticket and mine was back in my jeans pocket packed in the suitcase in our truck at the DLH parking lot! DH was not pleased with me, but said to take DS around DL and he'd come back. I felt soooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooo bad!
DS & I watched the Sidestreet band in front of the fire station then by luck ended up with a great seat in townsquare to see the opening day festivities. How cool was that!
Did some shopping along main street where people coming in literally filled the street. Then went to tomorrowland thinking, like a fool, I could get on to the orbiter. Ha! Line was 45 minutes long. We wandered around, and finally DH made it back via monorail. He said the security line was now past the first entrance to World of Disney. Yikes!
The crowds really had me frazzled but we headed to ToonTown which was surprisingly tame. DS loved the new toddler playground, and we also did the treehouse (lame) and the boat (lame and in disrepair) before heading over to Adventureland. Waited 30 minutes for Jungle Cruise which was great. The piranha were a fabulous addition. DS started saying "prawna"! Grabbed some mint juleps and people watched awhile. Then walked along the rivers of America, where DS had a hoot watching the ducks and all. Stopped to watch the "choo choo" at Big Thunder. DS loved that. Took some great photos of the trains. DS loves trains and his room in our new house will be train-themed. Wandered thru Fantasyland then took some photos on our way out.
Stopped by World of Disney for some souvenirs and then left DLR at 1:52pm. DS was exhausted and asleep. We made it home at 8:10pm.


Overall, the trip was a lot of fun. Seeing my son waving at me while I road Screamin' is a memory I'll never forget. Redwood Trail was a HUGE hit and the memories we made in Neverland Pool will be with us forever. The parades were excellent and the fireworks inspirational. This was DS's 3rd visit to a Disney park and very memorable. He talked about choo choos, prawnas and dikneelan all the way home.

We loved the enhanced castle and all the special 50th decorations. And I can't stop talking about the comfy mattress and pillows in our room.

And though the crowds at DCA totally frustrated me, it was great to see that park filled up with people having fun.

We found most of the CMs to be completely indifferent to the guests. One was even using her personal cell phone while working. The crowds were astounding and unexpected. Our tiny room at DLH was a small disappointment but the housekeeping thing was a huge one.

On the way home, my DH looked at me and said, "You know, I never thought I'd say this, but I think I like WDW better." I'd have to agree. This was the first time I'd visited both resorts within 6 months of each other and it produced an interesting contrast.

Anyway, if you're headed down there this week, be prepared for crowds. I didn't check wait times at any other rides, but even Pinocchio had a line that stretched into Fantasyland. Haunted Mansion's line was substantial too.

SeansMom
03-15-2006, 10:16 AM
"This was DS's 3rd visit to a Disney park and very memorable. He talked about choo choos, prawnas and dikneelan all the way home."
And that's really what it's all about...
Glad you had a good time, despite the crowds and housekeeping. Interesting that you've decided you like WDW better. Do you think that was because of the crowds???
Thanks for the trip report!

PrincessRose
03-15-2006, 10:25 AM
I don't think it was the crowds because we were in WDW in October (off-season) and we had a similar experience with unexpected crowd levels. We've attributed the crowds on both trips to the 50th celebration and the good travel deals both resorts have offered.

DL has some wonderful benefits over WDW but I think overall, we like WDW better. They offer different vacations entirely. Maybe if DL wasn't in L.A. we'd feel differently too. Who knows.

The good thing is, we took this trip to DL because we're moving out of CA and I've been sad about leaving DL behind. But, we'll be 900 miles closer to WDW. And, so now I really have nothing holding me to CA. :)