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View Full Version : 10 day trip report, June 17-27 (long read)



IdahoMike
06-30-2006, 11:16 PM
We took a 2 week vacation, with a stop in Portland at the beginning to visit my mom, sister and new nephew, and a quick stop at the end in Las Vegas, but otherwise spent the bulk of our time at Disneyland. Family consists of me, DW, DS age 5, DS age 3, and DS age 10 months.

Sat June 17: Arrived at the Candy Cane Inn around 11 am after spending the night at a nice Best Western in Coalinga. Headed straight to the park since we couldn't check in until 3. First ride was Star Tours, as I wanted to get FP for Space Mountain right off the bat. Usually we do Jungle Cruise and Indy first, but went the other direction this time. Went on Buzz 2nd, and then did the obligatory IASW. Not my favorite ride, so I figured I'd get it out of the way early (I did go on it one other time to get out of the heat.) Went on Space after that. Hadn't been on the new Space, or Buzz since we hadn't been to DL in 2 yrs. Enjoyed both quite a lot. My 3 yr old even went on Space! Went on quite a few other attractions, and then tried to stake out a spot for the fireworks. Found out quickly that the spot we had was not a good one, so we ended up standing near the Alice bathrooms, and could see everything fine, including the Tinkerbell flight. Went to bed around 10:30

Sun June 18: Went to the park for a couple hours, and then DS (5) and I went to the Angels game for Father's Day. Had a great time, although we were right in the sun. He got his foam finger and his cotton candy, so he was happy, and I was happy since my Padres won. Then met the rest of the family for Father's Day dinner at ESPN Zone. Wasn't really impressed with the food vs. the price. I kind of have the same feelings about Rainforest cafe. It's not as though the food was horrible, but you don't get what you pay for. Since it was father's day, I got to choose what else I wanted to go on that day, so we rode Indy (twice), Big Thunder (twice, DS (3) loves that ride, went on it 9 times.), Matterhorn, Haunted Mansion, and many others I can't remember. Watched the fireworks from outside Indy, could see most everything, but was a little obscured.

Mon June 19: Used our early entry, took care of all of the fantasyland rides early. Those who said to ride Peter Pan and Dumbo first hit it right on the head. DS (5) and I got the gold Dumbo. Although we did end up riding Peter Pan 4 other times during the trip, the line was non-existent for the EE. We made it on every single Fantasyland ride in the first hour. Decided to let the kids spend some time meeting characters after that. They got to meet Goofy and Max, Pluto, Belle, Cinderella, and of course Mickey. DS (5) did the Junior Chef program, which was fun for him. Spent the afternoon and early evening at DCA. Missed Block Party Bash as we took an afternoon break at our hotel, but did watch the Electrical Parade. Let me just tell you, exiting the park after that is ridiculous! Talk about a traffic jam. It is unfortunate that the park isn't open a little later, so you could hang out and go on some attractions, instead of everyone trying to cram their way over to DL for the fireworks. My DS (3) went on TOT, but DS (5) got scared after watching the Twilight Zone movie. They both loved Soarin', and DS (5) loves Grizzly too. I saw Kenny Smith (NBA analyst on TNT), he rode Soarin just in front of us.

Tuesday June 20: Went to the Museum of Natural History in the morning, was a nice break. Spent the evening at DL, watched the parade of dreams and fireworks again, between Innoventions and Autopia (could see everything except Tink). Autopia would not take my wife's fastpass during the fireworks, and made her wait in the standby line. What the heck is the point of having the FP available for that window of time if you can't use it? This was the one night we actually stayed all the way to midnight. Rode Star Tours twice, and Buzz twice.

Wednesday June 21: Can't remember a whole lot about this day other than it was when my mother in law arrived for a couple of days. The kids got to meet the queen from Snow White, Princess Aurora, Snow White, Woody, Chip (Dale kept moving, they didn't get to meet him), and Jojo. Saw Playhouse Disney, which was fun. Kids did NOT like HISTA however. The snake and the lion were too scary for them.

Thursday June 22: Highlight of the Day was my DS (3) meeting Piglet, who is his all time favorite. He has an old dirty, ratty "Piggy" that he drags everywhere, won't give it up for anything. We were in line for Pooh, and saw Piglet, and stepped out of line, because who knows when we would see him again (we didn't). Also saw Rabbit, but he didn't stop. Met Brer Fox and Brer Bear as well. Met Aladdin and Jasmine on the way out of the park.

Friday June 23: 1/2 day at DL, 1/2 day at DCA. Saw Block Party Bash, wasn't all that impressed by that, and the kids were pretty bored with it as well. Parade of Dreams was much better in my opinion. Went on Soarin' a couple more times (8 total) Wife and MIL had lunch at Carnation Cafe, they really enjoyed it (I had to take cranky DS (3) to DCA to give him some 1 on 1 attention, so we had Corn Dog Castle for lunch)

Saturday June 24: Didn't mess around with the movie premiere crowd. We went to Universal instead. What a bad idea that was! There was nothing wrong with the attractions (although Van Helsing is lame), but it was super hot, the lines for tickets took about 45 mins, and then the line management in that park is horrible. In 9 hours, we managed to do Van Helsing, Terminator 2 (cool), Jurassic Park, Shrek, Studio Tour, and Waterworld (love that show). 6 attractions in 9 hours. Boooooooo! Park was overcrowded, and very dirty. Restrooms were filthy. Not worth the $50-60 they charge you, for sure!

Sunday June 25: Hit breakfast at the Carnation Cafe. Was quite a letdown compared to the lunch. Pancakes had obviously been sitting around for a while, and the eggs were not very good either. We knew Pirates might open, but we avoided that whole area, as New Orleans Square/Critter Country was a joke to try and navigate. Spent a lot of time in Fantasyland/Tomorrowland, rode pretty much everything except Dumbo and Astro Orbitor (neither is worth the line). Took a break to drop the MIL at the airport, and then went back, did many more rides that night. Finally rode the DL Railroad.

Monday June 26: Pirates line was RIDICULOUS! We decided to skip it, and do it on Tuesday when it was a little less hectic. We did Splash and Pooh early, and met Pooh/Eeyore/Tigger (saw Rabbit a 2nd time), and then got the heck out of Critter Country. Please Mr. Ouimet, figure out a way to add a 2nd entrance/exit to that area! Went to Toontown because the kids hadn't met Minnie yet, so we took care of that, and rode Gadget and Roger Rabbit again. There was a swarm of bees between Peter Pan and Snow White, so they had to rope that area off while they called in the beekeepers. We escaped to DCA for most of the rest of the day, did all the rides multiple times, saw It's Tough to Be a Bug and the Ugly Bug Ball, met Atta, Goliath, Hercules, Cruella (she's great!), and Chicken Little and Abby were inside the Animation Studio. Did Turtle Talk for the 3rd time, and 3 of us got to talk to him. "Little dude in the black shirt, what is your name? Um...Cameron. Where are you from Kahuna Cameron? Um.....Idaho. Whoa! Idaho, that is so totally cool! I totally do not know where that is!" He talked to my wife as well, and then I got to ask him a question later (I asked if they have an underwater Disneyland. They don't, but swimming underwater is just as fun, according to Crush.) I was Malibu Mike. Dory also came out for this performance, which was funny. She got squished against the screen by a whale. Rode Monsters again, Roz told me that my 3 little monsters were very cute. Saw the Aladdin show, that was AWESOME. Had a great time there. DS (5) and I escaped to another Angels game that night. My son loves the Rally Monkey!

Tuesday June 27 (last day :(
We decided that no matter what, we were doing Pirates first. 3rd in line at the gate, and the line was still wrapping around the hub of main street. Apparently all the early entry people used theirs to get in line for Pirates. It truly only took 40 minutes to get through the line and onto the ride. LOVED the new effects, and how it was woven into the classic scenes. The Jack Sparrow animatronics were amazing. A++++++ on this one from our family. We had to leave by 1 pm, so everyone got to pick what they wanted to do one last time. Got in Indy twice, Jungle Cruise, Buzz, Big Thunder, Peter Pan and the Matterhorn before we left. Stumbled upon Goofy playing hide and seek with Rafiki, which was entertaining. The whole trip we hadn't met Donald, not ONE TIME. Had only seen him in parades. I was waiting outside one of the stores on main st, and Donald comes out of the cast member entrance, and presents himself right in front of us, like it was meant to be. Kids got to meet Donald before we left, which was a nice highlight for them. Got our pictures with the 50th logo, and had to be on our way.

Overall observations: We LOVED our experience. Characters were great, cast members were great, we got to ride Pirates. Pretty much nothing was closed. The only attractions we didn't get to do were Tom Sawyer's Island, the canoes, and Innoventions. Skipped the Maliboomer, Orange Stinger and Golden Dreams in DCA. Everything else we rode a minimum of 4 times, some as many as 9 (Big Thunder). Only rode Dumbo, Autopia, and Astro Orbitor once. Lines are ridiculous for those. Kept running into CM Robin, who was a character helper (or whatever their title is), and he was always very friendly and helpful. My best score on Buzz was 138,600.

Characters Met (if I can remember them all): Mickey, Minnie, Donald, Pluto, Goofy, Belle, Cinderella, Aurora, Ariel, Snow White, Queen from Snow White, Max, Chip, Aladdin, Jasmine, Piglet, Pooh, Eeyore, Tigger, Jojo, Goliath, Cruella, Hercules, Atta, Peter Pan, Wendy, Mary Poppins, Chicken Little, Abby Mallard, Brer Fox, Brer Bear

Saw, but no pictures or autographs: Baloo, Rafiki, Geppetto, Pinocchio, Fox from Pinocchio, Jane from Tarzan, Fairy Godmother, Dale, Prince Charming, Alice, Mad Hatter, Queen of Hearts, Tweedledee/Tweedledum, Beast, Rabbit, Mr. & Mrs. Incredible, Buzz

Negatives: Not much in the way of negatives. The pushy parents who refuse to actually stand in a line when their children are meeting a character are the worst. You'll get your turn, is it really that hard to set a good example, rather than shoving your child ahead of those who have been waiting politely? They need a CM for crowd control with every single character, and if people get pushy, they should be asked to leave the area. The crowd control throughout Adventureland/New Orleans Square/Critter Country was pretty bad as well. I realize the Pirates grandstands had a lot to do with that, but as I stated earlier, they need to come up with a way to get another entrance/exit from Critter Country.

Fingers are tired from typing, but we had a great time. Going back in 6 months or so, as we upgraded to AP's! Candy Cane Inn was awesome. Great service, very clean and friendly, has it's own shuttle, and I can't say enough good things about it!

rentayenta
07-01-2006, 05:44 AM
Thanks for the report. It sounds like your family had an awesome trip!


Tell me a little more about the Candy Cane Inn. I haven't stayed there but read only fabulous reviews on it. Did you hear a lot of Harbor traffic?


I liked how you got to do what you wanted on Father's Day. Very cool.

Leap for Joy
07-01-2006, 07:17 AM
Awesome trip report! Thank you for sharing!!

tmptink
07-01-2006, 09:07 AM
Thanks for sharing your trip report with us. Sounds like you had a great time. That is so cool you are going back in 6 months.

IdahoMike
07-01-2006, 09:17 AM
As far as the Candy Cane Inn goes, unless we get a great rate at one of the 3 Disney hotels, this will be where we stay each and every time we go from now on. Couldn't hear any traffic at all from Harbor. We were on the first floor (didn't want to climb stairs with small children), and there was only one night out of ten that we heard any noise from above. The shuttle was nice, and other than one driver who for some reason didn't like to turn on the AC, it was very handy for us! We usually walked in the a.m. when it was cool, but utilized the shuttle other than that. Grounds are clean, lots of pretty flowers and a nice fountain in front. Parking was never a problem, unlike the Desert Inn where we stayed last time. We probably will upgrade to the larger room next time, but it wasn't that much of an inconvenience, as we hardly spent any time there anyway. The staff was always friendly, and the one time we did have a problem (fridge broke), the staff member was at my door waiting to fix it before I got back from the main office. The continental breakfast was decent, and you could eat it poolside. I felt bad for housekeeping, as some of the guests were quite messy around the pool, and didn't even attempt to clean it up.

As I was re-reading my report, I started to think that it sounded like I pointed out all of the negatives, so I hope it didn't come across that we had a bad trip, it was far from it! I think those small things that happen on the negative side are just the easiest things to remember, so you tend to talk about them more. We had a fabulous trip, looking forward to going again in late winter/early spring. Any recommendations on a good time to go from Jan-April where very few rides might be down, decent weather, and not crazy crowds? (Yeah, I know, I ask for a lot!)

Mike

ktrm
07-01-2006, 09:22 AM
Tell me a little more about the Candy Cane Inn. I haven't stayed there but read only fabulous reviews on it. Did you hear a lot of Harbor traffic?


I stayed at Candy Cane Inn and liked it also. It is very, very clean and close to the park. It does not have interior corridors, however, so you pull your car up right in front of the room. The parking lot is big and roomy unlike most motor hotels so it is easy to get in and out of your parking spot. I was in a room pretty close to Harbor and did not hear any noise. It also has a complimentary breakfast and is close enough to walk to the park. It has a very nice clean, pool area. The landscaping is beautiful with twinkling lights in the trees. Only drawback is it fills up quick during the high season so get reservations early. Also the rooms are pretty small and tend to be a bit dark in my opinion because of the overhang right outside the one small window in the room. I got a bit claustrophobic and never really wanted to "hang out" in the room, but then again its Disneyland who wants to stay in their room? If you go in the rainy season you might run into some problems since like I said...the rooms are small, there really is no lobby to hang out in, and the breakfast room is quite small. We always ate by the pool, which was extremely nice but would not work with rain. The staff was also extremely nice to us and it was not expensive at all. $92 per night with a AAA card.

ktrm
07-01-2006, 09:31 AM
It sounds like you did your trip the right way. You did not try to do too many things in one day and took it at a nice pace. Last time I went with my kids I tried to do everything in too few days and everyone got a bit cranky. I am going again in a couple weeks and will not do this again. Its so much better to bite the bullet and pay for a few more days then to try to "rush" the experience to save money.

By the way, I went in early March and the crowds were light. AAA had a fantastic deal... for every paying adult the kids got in free. This sounds like it would work great for your family. To get this deal, I was not required to buy hotel accommendations just tickets. AAA told me to check every January to see what off season "deal" they have going on. The only problem with the time you want to go is the rain. We had only one rainy day during our week in March but there was a lot of nail biting going on. I know some people say going in the rain is fun, but I have very small children and the one rainy day I had was not that great with them. The price I paid to go was so incredibly cheap with the reduced ticket prices and the cheaper hotel accommendations, though, that I probably will roll the dice next year too. The rides were all going except Pirates but I don't know if this is typical or a 50th Anniversary thing.

Crazy4DL
07-01-2006, 02:20 PM
Enjoyed your report!! Thanks for sharing. We are going to try out the Candy Cane Inn on our next trip. :)