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hlbtimes2
05-11-2006, 07:45 AM
Trip report for May 5-7.

Me and my two best friends made a “Girls weekend” trip to the parks this weekend. And, wow, it was a great weekend to be there! The weather was good and the crowds low. One friend “K” had not been in about 20 years, and “S” hadn’t been in about 11 years. Me? Well, it was my 3rd visit in 8 months. Not bad for someone who lives in Seattle. We each have 2 children. They all stayed home with various dads and grandparents for the weekend.

S flew down early Thursday morning and spent the day some of her family. K and I flew down that evening. We got in around 9:30. We rented a car from Alamo, and were on our way. We checked in to the hotel, touched base with S, and ran to the store for some diet coke and water. We got back a little after 11, and S was just getting dropped of. We chatted briefly and went to bed.

My goal was to get the two of them up and moving early enough to catch the 8:30 shuttle from the CCI. That meant we needed to be eating breakfast around 8. We did it! We all managed to be ready on time and out the door as planned. Grabbed a quick bite and hoped on the shuttle. We made it right in to the park. Our first stop was Mad Hatter for mouse ears. We made it in and out of there pretty quick. By 9am rope drop we had a locker rented and were ready to hit the rides.

First stop, Space Mt. Just had a wait a couple minutes and we were on. Next we headed over to Autopia. It was about a 10-15 minute wait at the most. We each had our own car. After that we rode the train around to NOS. Walked right in to HM. Loved the new effects. Then we hit Splash Mt. Not a long wait, maybe 15 min or so. The lines every where, most of the weekend were super short. I think we used 3 fast passes all weekend. One for Buzz, and one for Soarin, and Indy. Anyway, after splash we wandered around that area for a bit. The girls wanted pictures and autographs with Pooh and the gang. We then rode Pooh and were pretty much done with that corner of the park. It was a little after 12 at this point. It was a very full morning! We had lunch at Hungry Bear. Why on earth is service so slow there? It takes FOREVER to get your food. We all had bacon cheese burgers. I like the buns they use there.

After lunch we wandered through NOS for a few minutes. I had never been in the sparkly shop, so made it a point to stop in . Fell in love with a sapphire ring, but didn’t even ask the price. I know it wasn’t coming home with me. Then we picked up FP for Indy, stand by was only about 20 minutes, but we got FP anyway.. The return time was only about 30-40 minutes out. We took a ride on Jungle cruise. Had a skipper named Jack. He was an older guy, and did a good job. Then we picked up dole whips/ floats and went into the tiki room. By time we were done it was time to ride Indy. They both really liked it!

After Indy S was wanting some cotton candy. We picked some up on main street and found a spot near the matterhorn for the parade. It was still a ways off. We took turns leaving to take pictures, look around etc. S and I were going to try to ride matterhorn, but the line was pretty long and we didn’t know if we would make it back for the parade or not. They really loved the parade. I took some great pictures. I have one of Peter pan in the middle of a jump. He looks like he is flying. I’ll try to post it when I get home tonight.

After the parade it was time to head back to the hotel for a break and to pick up warm clothes for the evening. S went to sit in the hot tub, and I drove K to the store for some foot care products. We had a short rest when we got back to the hotel. We caught the 6 pm shuttle back to the parks. It was Cinco de Mayo and S is Hispanic. She was insisting we have some margaritas. Who could argue with that? We waited about 15 minutes and got an outside table at Tortilla Jo’s. They had a mariachi band playing, and it was just a fun festive place to be. It was busy, so service seemed a bit slow. The food was pretty good.

After dinner it was time to find a place for fireworks. By 8 the hub was starting to fill up. We found a spot near the partners statue. There wasn’t room for all three of us on the bench, but it was better then nothing. We took turns leaving to get popcorn, candy and go potty. The fireworks were good, as usual. However, since the two of them are not that familiar with the rides/ park/ history, a lot of it was really lost on them. They enjoyed them, and of course, LOVED Tink, but it just wasn’t the same feeling for them as it is for me. After the fireworks we fought our way over to watch the 10:30 F. We got there a little before 10, so had a bit to wait. The both really loved F! S had seen it during her trip 10 years ago, but K had not seen it.


After F! we went to Fantasyland. We got right on Mr. Toad, and waited about 15 min for Peter Pan. Then we rode the Story book boats. Madeline was our tour guide. She was very perky and happy considering it was that late at night. She told the whole tour in a very animated way. K and S were both very tired by this point. It was almost midnight. S and I jumped in line for matterhorn, while K went to buy something on main street. I love the matterhorn, but it really needs some work done on the tracks. Its so bumpy, I always hurt when I get done riding it. We slowly made our way down main street. We missed the 12:15 shuttle, so we just waited for the 12:45.

hlbtimes2
05-11-2006, 07:45 AM
Day 2, Saturday May 6

The plan was go get up early and hit DL, have a late breakfast at Carnation, then head to DCA. While it was a good plan, its not what happened. We got our showers taken, and were ready by about 8. However K realized her foot was just to sore and she couldn’t wear either of the shoes she has brought. I offered to run her to target to get something else. We ran down there, grabbed some shoes for her, and the two of them downloaded their camera cards on to CD’s so they could take more pictures. We got back to the hotel in time to catch the 9:30 shuttle. A little behind schedule, but still in time to get to Carnation for our 10am PS. I bought a blackout pass while they waited in line. They made it in a few minutes before me, and checked in at carnation. We were seated shortly before 10, done and out by 10:35.

After breakfast they decided they wanted to see the princesses at the castle. Cinderella and Belle were on one side, and Snow White and Sleeping B. were finishing up on the other. K really wanted a pic with SB, she asked when she would return, and was told 11:30. At 12 we were still waiting. S and I had been running around looking at things and taking pictures during this time. I’m not sure who she asked, but K found some one and asked where SB was, she was expecting her to come back. She was told that SB was at story time, and it would be at least 12:30 before she came back, probably later by time she took a break. We rushed over to story time, but it was to late to get in line for meet and greet. K started to cry. Leo, the handler was great. He listened to what was going on, and let her in after the last child was done. After we were done, we stopped by city hall to leave a compliment for Leo. He really did save K’s day for her.

We then headed over to DCA. I grabbed some FP”s for soarin’ and we headed to the backlot area. We had about 15-20 minute wait for Monsters. Then we headed to TOT. S and I loved it (I had ridden it once before), K on the other hand hated it. It was then time to see the 2pm Aladin show. I had some PS tickets left over from our March trip. We got great seats. Center, first row in the back. Great spot to see the elephant come in. They really liked that show and were glad I made them go to it. We considered riding TOT again when we came out, but the line was 20 minutes, and we still had some much to see and do- and it wasn’t getting any earlier!

We headed over to the pier area. Screamin’ was down L S really wanted to ride Maliboomer. K and I sat that one out. From there we go corndogs at Corn dog castle. While we were eating we watched them run test cars on screamin. After we ate, S ran back over the maliboomer and rode it two times in a row. By the time she made it back to us, screamin was up and running again. S and I rode it, while K rode Tritons carousel. S loved screamin as much as I do, so we grabbed a couple single rider passes and jumped back on. By time we got off the 2nd time, K was calling our cells asking what was taking so long. OOPS! LOL

After that we went to GRR. The stand by line was about 15, so we jumped in line. They both liked it, but not enough to stand in line again. From there we headed over to Soarin’ to use our fast pass. They both really enjoyed it, and would have ridden it more if we would have more time. I was happy K liked it, since so far, she was not having a great time in DCA. After Soarin we decided that we just had to ride TOT one more time. I pointed out bugs land to K, and told her about the animation building and turtle talk. She did all of that while we rode TOT ( not that we were gone extra long, like maybe long enough to ride it twice or something. Nope, not us. J LOL)

I wanted to get a box of potato head parts before we headed back. They started walking back to the shuttle, while I filled my box. Its amazing how many pieces you can get in that little box, with a little hard work. I ended up with 42 pieces in ONE box. Yes, there were a lot of small pieces, but a few big ones as well. I just made the shuttle back to the hotel- 2 minutes to spare!

We quickly changed clothes, grabbed coats and headed back out. We went in and watched the 50th movie on main street. Then jumped on the train to NOS. We got some clam chowder and ate with the sounds of F! in the background. We couldn’t see much, but it was still neat. We finished our dinner about the same time F! ended. We got on the train and rode around to tomorrow land. The fireworks were going off- they are extremely loud back at toontown station. We used fast pass for Buzz. I did pretty good- 48,900. They both had under 10,000. LOL The only ride we had left on our “to do” list was big thunder. We made our way across the park and got on it pretty quick. At that point the girls decided they wanted to do a bit of shopping. I went and got some ice cream and sat on the curb and ate it, as I watched all the people leave the park. At that point we decided it was all the more fun we could handle in one day. We caught the 12:15 back to the hotel.

hlbtimes2
05-11-2006, 07:47 AM
Day 3- Sunday May 7
S and K didn’t have tickets for Sunday. There was no way I could sit in the hotel, with an AP burning a hole in my pocket. I got up early, and was out of the room about 7 am. They were both sound asleep. I grabbed a quick bagel and was ready for the 7:30 shuttle. Turned out to be my own private shuttle. I was in line about 15 minutes before the park opened. It’s the first time I’ve heard been there to watch the band come out and hear the family count down opening. When the gates opened I stopped to take a couple pictures, and made my way down main street. It was a little weird to be there all alone. I didn’t really have a plan of how to spend the couple hours I had. So, I decided to hit fantasy land.

Peter Pan was my first ride of the day. I waited maybe 5 minutes, probably not even that long. Then I walked right on Dumbo. We even flew with a few empty elephants. When I got off Dumbo I noticed there was no one in line at Casey Jr., so I headed over there. I was the first person for the day on Casey. I told my husband and he laughed at me, he was shocked I would pick those rides. From there I headed around the back side of Big Thunder. Decided another trip on Indy would be a good way to spend a few minutes. There was very little waiting. After Indy I hit Space Mt for one final ride. It was only 9:05 at that point- 5 rides in 65 minutes! I rode the horse drawn street car from the castle to the other end of main street. It was on my list of things I hadn’t done. Its always nice to cross something off.

I had about ˝ hour before I needed to head back to the hotel to meet back up with the girls. I did a little shopping and bought a bucket of popcorn. From the popcorn cart at the hub I could see Mary Poppins and Bert near the cookie baking area. I stopped and took a couple of pictures On my way to the gate Minnie, Pluto, Goofy and Donald were out near the end of main street / flag pole. I was able to take a few pictures of them before saying goodbye to the park. I missed the 10:15 shuttle back by 3 minutes. I walked the 10 minutes back to the hotel, and we loaded up our stuff.

We drove from the hotel to the downtown Disney parking lot. We hit the world of Disney store and gave them all our money. LOL Then a quick lunch at Le Brea bakery. The food was ok, but not great for the price. We just did the express service. It was $12 for a sandwich, cookie and diet coke. That seemed a bit high to me. The ham on the sandwich was square. I would expect real ham, not square slices for that price. The cookie on the other hand, was very good.

We left around 3 for the airport. Our flight wasn’t until 6, but I didn’t want to take chances. I don’t know the area, and the traffic scares me. Good thing we left early. We had some problems with the hwy signs and had to turn around a couple times. We finally made it, and had a couple hours to kill. The flights home were very uneventful.

Its sad to be home and not have any idea when I’m going back again. Probably a year from now, but I don’t want to wait that long, my AP is already burning a hole in my pocket.

Pammer
05-11-2006, 11:23 AM
Great trip report, Linda! I too had a day at the parks by myself last October...I accompanied friends to DL to celebrate a 4-yo's birthday. On the last day, everyone else headed for home in the morning after an early breakfast at Goofy's Kitchen, but I had until my shuttle picked me up at 2:30pm (plus I had the AP and no one else did)! It certainly is a different experience to be there by yourself, but still enjoyable!

Glad you enjoyed yourselves!

Crazy4DL
05-11-2006, 11:38 AM
Fun report, Linda! I was watching for it. :) ;)

Glad you and your friends had a good time.

Rhiannon8404
05-11-2006, 02:03 PM
Great report! How fun! I'm so jealous. I wish I had girlfriends who wanted to go to Disneyland!

TowerofTerror
05-11-2006, 02:33 PM
Love your reports seem like you all had a good time at the park without your husbands and kids

twist1980
05-12-2006, 06:28 AM
I'm glad to hear you had fun! I remember you asking for ideas a few months back! Great TR, thanks for sharing! :)

lobotomomma
05-12-2006, 08:52 AM
Great trip report, Linda!!! How fun to spend some time alone at DL...it sounded like you had a great time!!! Thanks again for sharing!!!