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remillard
04-28-2006, 01:55 AM
Hey all, posting my first ever trip report. I'm actually mid-trip, but will post anyway to give some up to date intel.

I'm traveling with my wife and two daughters (5 and 3) from the Bay Area via roadtrip. This is the kids' third trip to DL. Last time was in May 2005 at the beginning of the 50th celebration. We drove down I-5 on Sunday, staying at the Four Points Sheraton Monrovia. On Monday we went to Kidspace in Pasadena, then checked into Hojo Anaheim that night. We had three-day parkhoppers, originally planned to go 4/25-27.

First time staying at Hojo. Last time was Candy Cane, time before that was Desert Inn & Suites. I rate Hojo and Candy Cane about even. Plus side of Hojo is nicer facilities and rooms, shorter walk, downside is it's more expensive, no breakfast, and no shuttle.

On Tuesday, we got to DL about 9:50. We hit the following: Tiki Room, Carousel, Teacups, Alice, Matterhorn. Bengal BBQ for an early lunch, then Jungle Cruise, Tarzan's Treehouse, Disney Gallery, Winnie x2, back to New Orleans to catch the train to Toontown. Goofy's House (think it used to be a bounce house, not anymore), Go-Coaster, Mickey's House, Small World. Then we split up and I went with the 5YO to Star Tours and Buzz x2 while my wife took the 3YO to Carousel and Dumbo. We all did Storybook Canal, then Tiki Room and Jungle Cruise again, then they grabbed bench seats across from the Matterhorn to wait for the Parade. I ran to get dinner from Stagecoach Cafe. Watched the Parade, then I did Astro Orbiter with the 3YO while wife did Star Tours with the 5YO. Headed back to Hojo and watched the fireworks from the hotel. Nice weather, great lines. Other than Alice and Go-Coaster, we didn't have to wait more than 10 minutes for any ride.

On Wednesday, we got to DL around the same time. Weather said 60% chance of showers, but it held up fine. In the early morning, we thought crowds were actually better than Tuesday, but by late morning they were definitely worse (though still not terrible). Tiki Room (kids love it, I've had enough for this trip after 3x), Teacups, Peter Pan, Buzz x2. Lunch at Pizza Port. Saw Honey I Shrunk The Kids for the first time and my 5YO ran out crying. Autopia. Then crossed over to DCA. Wife took the 3YO to Mike & Sully. I went with the 5YO to Jumpin Jellies, GRR, and Mulholland x2. Lines in DCA were 25-40 minutes without FP. Family rejoined to see Aladdin, then Playhouse Disney. Returned to DL to stake out a bench spot for Parade. I ran to French Market and brought a huge tray full o food back to Main Street. Watched the Parade, then wife and 3YO went back to Hojo. 5YO and I stayed, did Carousel, Storybook Canal, Buzz x2, then watched fireworks.

Thursday morning we decided the kids were fried from too much DLR, so we switched up our plans and went to the Huntington Library & Gardens in Pasadena instead. Weather was cloudy, but no rain. We'll do our third day on Friday. Hopefully crowds will not be too heinous. Going to try to hit DCA starting at 8am. 4/28 addendum to follow.

Due to the change in plans (extending trip by a night), I actually have to check out of Hojo tomorrow morning and into Candy Cane, so I'll end up staying at both for the same trip.

AztecWolverine
04-28-2006, 02:54 AM
When you add the Friday addendum to your trip report, could you please mention your thoughts on the food you purchased from the French Market, Stagecoach Cafe, etc.?
Also, were there any other problem rides with your 3 year old? We had one last year who ran out screaming from Sea World's Lighthouse theater, as soon as it started....She also hated It's a Bug's Life".....:crying:

Also, you posted, "Going to try to hit DCA starting at 8am" for today, Friday. Did you check their hours? Usually they don't open until 10 AM....

Mermaid
04-28-2006, 06:34 AM
Great report so far! Thanks for sharing it!

Rhiannon8404
04-28-2006, 06:38 AM
Great trip report! Can't wait to read the rest.

And, I'd like to say thank you for making nice, decent-sized paragraphs. Some trip reports are just huge blocks of type and are very hard to read. Yours was very nicely written.

Frogberto
04-28-2006, 08:09 AM
Great report! Does California Adventure open at 8am on Friday? Isn't it 10am? I was in the park at the same time as you Tuesday and Wednesday and agree with your report regarding crowds... Tuesday was nice all morning, but Wednesday felt heavier.

I didn't go to California Adventure yesterday, but I saw the lines to get in, and because it's the last day for the "2-fer" passes, I expected it to be a little crowded!

bradk
04-28-2006, 08:12 AM
in some fairness, DCA does the rope drop at 10 but usually lets people in at 9:30 and SOC starts operating shortly after that. showing up at the gates at 8 might be a bit much, but it almost always pays to be early.

lobotomomma
04-28-2006, 09:45 AM
And, I'd like to say thank you for making nice, decent-sized paragraphs. Some trip reports are just huge blocks of type and are very hard to read. Yours was very nicely written.

I was one of those people who wrote my trip report in a lot of huge blocks of type--sorry, Rhiannon! I added a lot more detail to my report since I hadn't been to DL in 8 years so sorry if it was hard to read!!!:p

Anyhoo, Remillard, thanks for sharing your trip report!!! It really is a good one!! Hope you enjoy your last day in DL!!!

remillard
04-30-2006, 08:32 AM
As many have pointed out, DCA did not open at 8am on Friday. We realized this upon arriving at the park (should’ve checked Mouseplanet beforehand), so we switched to DL instead. Weather was cloudy, but not too cold and no rain. Lines were wonderful. One of the key principles in planning this SoCal trip was to do DL on Tues-Thurs to avoid crowds on Friday. As it turned out, Friday was the best day for lines.

First up was Autopia, then Buzz x2. 5YO went to meet Aurora on the side of her castle while I took 3YO to Carousel x2 and Dumbo. We joined up at the princess shop, then headed to Alice, Storybook, and Small World. Next into Toontown for Roger Rabbit and Go-Coaster x2. Up to this point, we had not had to wait in a line more than 5 minutes (we did skip Peter Pan, which had a 15-20 minute line by 9am). Around 11:30ish, we hopped on the train back to Main St and exited DL.

Had lunch at Ralph Brennan’s Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney, then entered DCA around 1:30. I grabbed fastpasses for Soarin, then met family in line at Mike & Sully (15-20 min line). We all headed over to Bug’s Land, did Heimlich (15 min wait). I then obtained fastpasses for GRR (5YO calls it Sploosh) right as the clock allowed me to, then went back to Bug’s Land (meanwhile family had done Francis x2 and Flik). Wife took 5YO to Soarin. 3YO and I did Flik’s, then went to go meet them at Soarin (3YO is not tall enough for Soarin). Wife and I switched kids, she took 3YO to Playhouse Disney. I took 5YO to Soarin then GRR. As it turns out, we didn’t need fastpasses for GRR because there was no wait at all. We did it once and got drenched. 5YO didn’t want to do it a second time, so we went back to Playhouse. About 4:45 now.

Back to DL. Wife took kids to Tiki Room (I think that’s 5 times in 3 days) while I did Haunted Mansion. Then wife and 5YO did Jasmine & Aladdin’s storytelling while I took 3YO on Jungle Cruise and Astro Orbiters. 5YO was called on to be Jafar on-stage. She got through telling the audience her name, then fled back to the safety of the audience with stagefright.

We staked out a spot on the side of the circle in front of Sleeping Beauty’s Castle around 6:30 to wait for the Parade of Dreams (it went the opposite direction on Friday than Tues-Weds). I went to forage for food, went back to French Market. Restaurant lines were long (I had stopped briefly at Stagecoach and River Belle earlier before giving up) and I didn’t make it back to Main St. until after 7pm. There were so many people I couldn’t get back to my family, so I took my tray of food and grabbed a table up against the building behind where they do the Junior Chef thing. Family joined me and we ate our dinner, then headed back to DCA (getting good use out of those parkhoppers).

Got to DCA around 8:30, got a spot on the street right around the border of Golden State. This is for the Electric Light Parade (8:45 start). Kids and I had never seen ELP before (the first 10 or so times I went to DL, I saw perhaps one parade. My family’s philosophy was that parades were for suckers while smart people took advantage of the reduced lines for rides), wife hadn’t seen it in about 18 years (last trip there was a conflict between Fantasmic and ELP. We saw Fantasmic, thanks to wife’s noble sacrifice). ELP was fun and a nice way to end the DL part of our trip.

We picked up our car at HoJo (as well as 5YO’s baby doll which had been scooped up accidentally by housecleaning) and headed over to Candy Cane for the night.

Kids’ favorite: Parade of Dreams (we did it 3 times in 3 days and didn’t tell them it actually ran twice on Friday). Wife’s favorite: Soarin. My favorite: we bought princess bow/rubber bands, so all three of my girls were sporting ponytails on Friday (this and the light-up necklaces were the only Disney souvenirs we let the girls have this trip).

Some planning thoughts: I had read a great deal of speculation on Mouseplanet about anticipated crowd levels this week. I came away with the impression that nobody knew for sure, but overall crowds were higher than normal due to the 50th and better marketing recently. Also, 4/27 was supposed to be a killer because of the end of several promotional deals (including mine, kids play free). As it turns out, I think the greater impact was traditional seasonal attendance. Meaning that the crowds were very acceptable and I think the reason is that we went in that sweet spot between Spring Breaks and Summer (my parents went 4/19-21 and hit crowds). I also think going weekdays (counting Friday as a weekday, I guess) helped. Mornings definitely were better, crowd-wise. Going Friday at 8amish was the best lines. I had an early entry pass (good Mon, Tues, Thurs) but didn’t end up using it.

Having now stayed (on the same trip, even) at both HoJo and CCI, I still rate them even. I think next trip I probably will look to CCI first to save a little on the rooms. Room quality is still fine and the shuttles are convenient. I also like having the breakfast. I had forgotten how warm the CCI pools were.

Someone asked for more detail on food, so here it is now.

I brought along a backpack with bottled water, goldfish crackers, and shelled sunflower seeds. This allowed us to generally avoid buying any snacky type stuff from the carts.

Tuesday lunch: Bengal BBQ. First time here (and last, apparently, since they will be getting rid of it). For the four of us, we got five skewer entrees (chicken x2, sweet beef, spicy beef, bacon & asparagus) and 1 order of breadsticks plus two sodas to share. I liked the spicy beef. Nobody really cared for the sweet beef. Bacon & asparagus was tasty. Kids liked the chicken with no sauce (came with a Polynesian sauce, which I had them put on the side). Total was about $30.

Tuesday dinner: Stagecoach Café. This is a convenient place to get food to go and bring it back to the Parade route. Two orders of chicken tenders (6 piece) for daughters, mozzarella sticks (6 piece) for wife, fish (8 piece) for me. All came with fries. Soda to split for me and wife, 2 chocolate milk bottles for girls. Honey mustard sauce and tartar sauce were okay, marinara was pathetic. I would skip the mozzarella.

Wednesday lunch: Pizza Port. First time here. I got spaghetti and meatballs, wife had chicken caesar, kids split a slice of pepperoni pizza. Soda to split for me and wife, chocolate milk to split for the kids. Pretty good, will come back.

Wednesday snack: Gibson Girl. Cookies & cream in sprinkle dipped waffle cones for the girls, mint chip in chocolate dipped waffle for wife, mocha almond fudge in peanut dipped waffle for me. All very tasty, but it’s ice cream - what do you expect? The cones were kind of big for the kids, but it’s hard to share one cone. 3YO ate the bottom of her cone too early, which meant the contents dribbled out all over her.

Wednesday dinner: French Market. This is my favorite restaurant in DL and I always go for at least one meal every trip. Mickey chicken nuggets for gthe girls, clam chowder in sourdough bowl for wife. I got the King’s Fried Chicken over red beans and rice, but they messed up and didn’t put my chicken in the to-go package (grrrr!). I had more than enough food anyway, because I also got a chocolate cake for the kids to share and a cheesecake for me. Split soda for wife and me, lemonades for girls. It was a huge tray o’ food to be hauling back to the Parade.

Friday lunch: Ralph Brennan’s. Yum! First time here, used a 10% coupon from my Diamond Fun Book. I had an oyster po’ boy (substituted jalapeno potato salad for the cole slaw) and a sampling of three soups (gumbo, creole onion, and shrimp bisque). Wife had some kind of chicken wrap. Kids split a large combo appetizer platter. Sodas around. We finished that off with beignets and coffee. Nice ambiance, like you’re in New Orleans.

Friday dinner: French Market again. Mickey nuggets for the girls again. This time I had the fettucine, which was just okay (probably wouldn’t repeat). Wife wasn’t hungry after the big lunch and a week of keeping up with my meal pacing and volume.

Overall, I think DL prices are pretty reasonable except for the drinks. The food is decent, not great. It’s not worth it to me to try hauling food around all day. We try to let the kids have fried/fries only one meal a day. They get soda one meal and water or chocolate milk for the other (these are vacation standards, not normal at-home). On our non-park days we try to get them healthier food. Hungry Bear is a good place to get the Mickey nuggets because it comes in a little lunchbox, but the restaurant is not conveniently placed for what we like to do at this age, and we didn’t end up going there this trip.

Problem rides for 3YO: none that we did. She was scared during Honey I Shrunk, but not as badly as the 5YO (who insisted that we leave immediately). 3YO doesn't like fire, and the Indy portion of the fireworks show scares her. When we took 3YO on Pirates (now closed temporarily), she was a little scared but liked it overall. We don't take the kids to Haunted Mansion yet. 3YO was fine on Matterhorn.

bradk
04-30-2006, 08:46 AM
sounds like a great day.

as an FYI, the reason why the parade ran 'backwards' on Friday is exactly because there were 2 parades. The 3:15 one would have run the same route that the 7:00 ones did earlier in the week, but because there's no facility for looping the parade around outside the park, it has to run in the reversed direction for a second parade (and would reverse again if there were a 3rd and so-on). as opposed to WDW, which loops each parade around completely.\

anyway, thanks for the report. getting me even more excited than I already was