Articles | Disneyland | Walt Disney World
Results 1 to 11 of 11

Thread: IdahoMike June 4-13, 2018 Candy Cane Inn

  1. #1
    I'm your huckleberry IdahoMike's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Kuna, ID (that's Idaho, not Indiana!)

    IdahoMike June 4-13, 2018 Candy Cane Inn

    Travel dates:June 4-June 13, 2018
    Travel method:Car
    Resort:Candy Cane Inn
    Accommodations:
    Ages Represented in Group: 46, 17, 15, 12
    Disney Resort Experience Represented in Group:A lot
    Comments:
    Cast of characters: Me, DS 17, DS 15, DS 12

    To start this story off, My ex wife and I are not together, but we have done Disneyland together 2-3 times since the divorce, so its a little odd, but it works for all of us. Last year she bought the boys Deluxe APs that expire June 13, so I planned one more trip before they expire. The 2 younger boys drove down with their mother, and I took my oldest. He loves the TV show Ghost Adventures, and has been dying to go to Zak Bagans Haunted Museum in Vegas, so I promised him we could go. It is ages 16 and up for those of you who might be interested.

    Woke up at 4 am on Monday and hit the road for Vegas. It was nice having a kid who could drive, so I could get a little rest. He took the stretch from Wells, NV to Ely, NV, and I drove the rest. We even saw a roadrunner run across the road in front of us! Rolled in to Vegas around 2 pm, headed straight to the museum. Its $44 per person which at first I thought was a little steep, but they have done a really nice job with it, and at the end, we both thought it was totally worth it. 30 rooms, of all sorts of paranormal, supernatural, sideshow, serial killer stuff. We checked in at the Luxor after that (I had a comp room, so it only cost the resort fee of $33) I had gotten a couple free tickets to the Mandalay Bay shark reef through the myVegas slots app (got the comp room that way too), so we went and walked through that next. It was really neat, but I have to say, NOT worth $25 per person to see. There just isn't enough there to justify $25 per person. By that time we were starving, so we headed to the Luxor buffet (got a 2 for 1 through the app lol). Stuffed our faces, talked about walking the strip to walk off the buffet, but it was 108 degrees outside, so air conditioning won over exercise haha. Side note, the Statue of Liberty at NYNY had a Vegas Golden Knights jersey on, and the MGM lion had the Knights logo painted on its chest. The whole town had hockey fever from what I could see.

    Got up at 6 and headed to Anaheim on Tuesday. Rolled in around 11 am, couldn't check in quite yet so we headed to the parks. Ex and 2 youngest were already there, so Spencer and I headed to DCA first because I had never ridden the Guardians ride. Got FP for that, rode Monsters Inc., and went to Toy Story Mania. Sad that we couldn't ride Screamin/Incredicoaster, but it looked like it was going to be a really cool re-theming. Rode Guardians, absolutely LOVED it! Such a good upgrade, better theme, more drops, just an all around improvement. We got "Hit me with your Best Shot" for the song, and managed to ride twice more later in the trip, got Give Up the Funk both times. Spencer collects Funko Pop! Figures and he was hoping to find a Disneyland exclusive. He got the Gold Collector in the gift shop at the exit, so he was excited. Went to the Adorable snowman stand and got the lemon/raspberry soft serve, it was awesome! (did that twice more in this trip). Also saw comedian Aries Spears from MadTv walking down to Toy Story. Checked in to our hotel after that. I just love the Candy Cane Inn. Always friendly, helpful, clean, and has its own shuttle! Went back to the parks after a while, and spent the rest of the day in Disneyland, headed to bed around 10.

    More to Come!


  2. # ADS

    Join Date
    Location
    Posts
     

  3. #2
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Aug 2012
    Location
    Drexel Hill, PA

    Great start to the report. I was in Vegas in May but didnt get to the Luxor. I love Disneyland but have only been there about 4 times since Im on the East Coast. My nephew collects pops and I have a couple too. We are hoping I can find the Figment one and get the green army man one when I go to Disney World next weekend. Looking forward to reading more


  4. #3
    I'm your huckleberry IdahoMike's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Kuna, ID (that's Idaho, not Indiana!)

    Slept in a little on Wednesday, had breakfast and headed to Huntington Beach. Last time we went it was the State surfing championships or something along those lines, so parking was at a premium. This time plenty of parking The boys love to watch the fishermen, so we headed to the pier first to watch some fishing. Last time we were there a guy hauled in about a 4 foot shark. Nothing of that size this time, but a few nice ones. There was also a seal playing in the water directly off the pier, so we watched it for quite a while. Headed down to the beach after that and just hung out while the boys played in the water. Nice day all in all, we love this beach!
    Headed back to Anaheim to clean up and change, we had tickets to the Angels vs Royals Shohei Otani was pitching, if you don't know who he is, you should google him. He's supposed to be the "Babe Ruth of Japan" We had great seats in right field, which was awesome, other than the 2 young girls spending nearly the entire game taking selfies of themselves near us. the whole section was making fun of them, it was quite comical. Unfortunately for Otani, he left with an injury in the top of the 5th, they said it was a blister, but later revealed to be much worse, and he might need to have Tommy John surgery, and miss the rest of the year and possibly next year Angels won the game, no home runs hit in our section, but still had a great time. A couple of side notes for anyone considering a game. Easiest stadium I've ever been to as far as getting in and out of, and also affordable tickets! $72 bucks for 4 100 level seats, plus a hot dog and very small soda. We were back at our hotel in minutes. Complete opposite of getting in and out of Dodger Stadium.

    Thursday I got up before everyone else since I had a 5 day hopper and they have AP, so I got early entry! Managed to be about 20th to get on Peter Pan, so was done with that quickly. Rode Toad, Dumbo, Teacups and Alice after that. headed over to Snow White, and some dude decided to take his ECV in the regular entrance rather than going through the exit. Yep, he got stuck. So I went and rode Pinocchio while they figured out how to get him out.
    Side note on Peter Pan, and I know this will make a lot of people angry, but in my opinion) it is the MOST overrated ride in the park. I like it, I don't love it. I don't get the rush to ride it and the constant long lines. I think Alice is a much better dark ride. Half of PP is flying over a glowing carpet with Big Ben in the center, and then over a bunch of stars, but there just really isn't that much to it! I am also a person who rides pretty much everything (not Astro Orbitor, too uncomfortable, and not worth the lines whatsoever), so I always ride PP one time.
    Met the kids at the Adventureland rope for normal rope drop, got a FP for Indy and also rode it standby. I think that is the 2nd time I have ever walked through the Indy queue (the first being in 1996 when we waited 2+ hours). its always a fastpass for us. Pirates was not open yet (Friday), so we went on Haunted Mansion (I got Gus in my doombuggy 4 out of 5 times this trip, I guess he REALLY wanted to go home with me!) and Big Thunder, and grabbed a FP for Fantasmic! Went over to Toontown (also a once a trip thing for me), rode both Roger Rabbit and Gadget standby, actually no wait for Gadget's Go Coaster!, and went through Mickey's house to get a photo with the Mouse himself. Almost no line there either! Rode small world, and got a FP for Matterhorn (I really wish they hadn't added that to this ride, it slows down the standby SO much!) Went over and rode Autopia, and then headed back to Matterhorn. I absolutely love this ride, but I hate to say I'm getting to the age where I can't ride it much longer I don't think. Its just TOO herky jerky, it hurts so much that I just don't enjoy it like I used to.
    After that, the kids and their mom had a ressie at Rainforest Cafe, so I decided to go back to the hotel and take a nap. Grabbed some Pizza Press before my nap, yum yum! Headed back to the park around 6, rode Buzz, got smoked by my 15 y/o (I've always been the Buzz high scorer in the family). rode the railroad around the park, just kinda took it easy until it was time to line up for Fantasmic! Got in line around 8, show starts at 9. I hadn't watched in it several years, so it was cool to see the new additions. We really liked the pirate battle on the ship. Sadly, the dragon didn't work on this night, but we were able to see it another night while in line for Pirates, so we got to experience it. It was really nice that we could just stay down on the water and watch the fireworks in the same spot, with the water screens showing the castle projections. Really liked the Pixar fireworks! After the traffic settled down, we went to Tomorrowland to use FP for Space that we had grabbed earlier in the day. It was back to normal space mountain, which is great, but I do really enjoy Hyperspace Mountain, not gonna lie. I made the mistake of riding Star Tours immediately after that, which I have only done one other time, and got really nauseous, so I should have known. Guess what happened this time? Yep, same thing! I can ride them each separately with a time break in between with no problem, but one after another is not good for me I guess! Called it a night after that, we were exhausted!


  5. #4
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Sep 2006
    Location
    Blue House

    Thanks for the trip report. I don’t read a lot of the DL reports because we are mostly WDW trippers but saw your name and remembered you write good reports so I had to check it out. We are talking about maybe going to the West coast again in a few years so this is getting me excited to start to plan something.


  6. #5
    At home in the hills candles71's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    foresthill Ca

    We were there and rode Hyper Space on Sunday, a couple of times, and then regular SM Monday and Tuesday. According to the Disabled area CM there was still ongoing discussion on whether they were going to remove it Sunday night or not.
    Whistler sometimes has trouble with SM. We have learned he has trouble on ST and Soarin' (and Simpson's) if he is on an edge seat, the digital screens have a weird effect on him. If we make sure he is in the middle of the row or middle section on Soarin he is fine.


  7. #6
    I'm your huckleberry IdahoMike's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Kuna, ID (that's Idaho, not Indiana!)

    I just realized I had never come back and finished the trip report! So here goes! Friday was the re-opening of Pirates of the Caribbean with the new auction scene, so we got there for rope drop, and headed over as soon as the rope fell. We managed to get on fairly quickly and didn't have to go through the entire queue which was nice. Side note, why does everyone go left when the line splits? We went right and got on way faster than a lot of people that were ahead of us I know the auction scene is a hot topic of debate, but we didn't mind it at all. I thought chickens vs. rum was a little weird but otherwise it was fine. Surprised by the other changes though, but we liked them as well. Rode this probably 3 more times before we went home. After Pirates we headed over to DCA and grabbed FP for Radiator Springs Racers. As I had found out earlier, this was the last day Toy Story Mania would be open for our trip, (and only from 6 pm-close) so we for sure were going to do that. Wandered into Bug's land, and as a whole, I am not sad at all about its closure. However we do really enjoy Heimlich's Chew Chew Train, so we HAD to ride that one last time before it is gone. Mmmmm Candy Corn! Went over to Turtle Talk and enjoyed visiting with Crush. I hadn't seen in since Hank was added to the show, so that was a nice surprise for me Rode Monsters and then went over for our FP to Radiator Springs. The FP line, yes the fastpass line went out almost to Flo's! What the heck? Anyway, we rode that and had a blast as usual. Both times we rode this, we got the Ramone side vs the Luigi side, but yet we won the race both times. Wouldn't you think that new tires would make your racer go faster than a new paint job? Grabbed Soarin FP and then decided to get a bread bowl at the wharf. My 12y/o is a foodie and wants to be a chef, so he had been salivating over the bread bowl. We split a chili bread bowl and boy was it yummy! Walked around the other side of the pier and rode Silly Symphony Swings, and Little Mermaid. Goofy's Sky School was not operating so we never did ride that (not THAT disappointed lol). We don't do Jumpin Jellyfish now that the kids are big, and Golden Zephyr had far too long of a wait. Rode Soarin, loved it as always. I, like many others wish they had an option for both films to be shown (one on each side of the queue). Rode Grizzly standby (it had broken down earlier and we happened to catch it just as it opened so didn't need a FP. Just missed the geyser at the end (raft right behind us got drenched! We rode with 2 girls who didn't wear ponchos, but they had shower caps on their hair! Grabbed FP for Guardians, and then headed back for a little break in the pool/nap. Came back in time to use our Guardians FP, then went over and rode Luigi Rollicking Roadsters. I enjoy this ride, and so glad they didn't name it "Festival of the Dance" as was rumored. Went over to see if TSMM was open, but the CM's were telling everyone they did not know what time it would open, or IF it would open. We grabbed the lemon soft serve again and kind of hung out, and then a CM walked through saying we could line up for TSMM. They walked the line over and we got on in about 20 mins. Went through the line a second time and it was about 30 that time. Did a little shopping and then went and snagged a spot near Little Mermaid for Paint the Night. Had about an hour wait for the parade so I held the spots while everyone else went and rode Little Mermaid, and grabbed hot chocolate. I have seen PTN 3 times now, and I just love love love this parade! We thought about going to DL afterward, but didn't want to deal with the fireworks crowd, and we were tired, so we went back to the hotel and called it a night.


  8. #7
    At home in the hills candles71's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    foresthill Ca

    Shhh. Let them all go left on Pirates. Conventional wisdom is to go left as most people naturally go right. Pirates is the only exception to that rule as the physical queue is actually longer if you go left and they have the rope open that takes you back past the elevator for the Dream Suite. It's also just a smidge longer at the load station. But don't tell them that or my line will get longer.


  9. #8
    Self-Proclaimed Disney Queen! Pammer's Avatar
    Join Date
    Apr 2004
    Location
    Sacramento, CA

    Does Pacific Wharf Caf have the chili in a bread bowl again? I don't see it on the menu, and it was a favorite of my hubby's before they took it off.

    Pam
    DL trips: too many to remember actual dates, but they began in the 60s!
    WDW trips: 1986, 1988, 1989, 1991, 1993, 1996, 1999, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2010, 2011, 2013, 2021



  10. #9
    At home in the hills candles71's Avatar
    Join Date
    Feb 2008
    Location
    foresthill Ca

    I started to say they had it when I was there but we were there the same week.


  11. #10
    I'm your huckleberry IdahoMike's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Kuna, ID (that's Idaho, not Indiana!)

    We didn't see it on the menu but my son just ordered it anyway and we loved it!


  12. #11
    I'm your huckleberry IdahoMike's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jul 2005
    Location
    Kuna, ID (that's Idaho, not Indiana!)

    Guess I should finish off this trip report haha
    Saturday we planned to go to the LA Zoo. Hadn't been there in about 10 years, but I remembered that it was very hilly, being in Griffith Park. Got to the zoo around 10, it was warm, but not excruciatingly hot. However the uphill in every direction factor made for a sweaty day lol. Some of our favorite exhibits were the otters (they were making some weird screeching sound, we all thought it was a baby!), the chimpanzees, gorillas and the Tasmanian Devils. We saw them at the San Diego zoo, but didn't know LA had them too. they were actually a lot more active in LA, i watched them for a long time!

    Tried to go to Griffith Park Observatory, but being a Saturday, there was NO parking whatsoever, so we went up the hill, and down the hill and drove back to our hotel LOL. We'll try for that another time, and on a weekday.

    Sunday we got up to hit Fantasyland first. Took a lot of pictures on this day, both character and non-character. Mickey, Donald, Dale, Capt Hook and Peter Pan, the Woody and Buzz cars, and Kylo Ren. the lines for Vader and Chewie were super long, and Rey was not available when we went in, but Kylo was fun. I'm thankful my kids will still indulge me (although one of them doesn't like it, but he will go along with it at least).

    Monday we spent just doing favorites, no set plan. I love days like that though, relaxed and calm, go at your own pace, and not trying to pack so much into one day. Indy was closed for refurb on that day, so we rode it 3x the day before, but we hit all of our other favorites. Star Tours was the last ride of the day, which seems to be how it happens for us many times.

    Drove back to Vegas on Tuesday, mostly just relaxed and stayed out of the heat. Drove home Wednesday to Boise, and realized I should have taken an extra day off to recover from all the driving!

    I don't plan on going back next year with Star Wars land opening, no matter how much I want to be there! Their mother wants to take them at Halloween, so my kiddos will probably get to experience Star Wars land before me, but that's ok. My oldest graduates next year, and he wants to go to San Diego comic con for his graduation gift, so if I can swing tickets to that, that will be our vacation next year.


Bookmarks

Bookmarks

Posting Permissions

  • You may not post new threads
  • You may not post replies
  • You may not post attachments
  • You may not edit your posts
  •