It's time for a trip to Disneyland!

Disneyland April7-10th

Why: Agent Training Program
Who: Me, Jess, Danielle
Where: Paradise Pier

I was so excited when this training opportunity came up! We lived in LA for a year and central California for two. We have been to Disneyland countless times and stayed at several hotels off property as well as the Grand Californian and Disneyland Hotel. Since we let 2 1/2 years ago I've only been back once! I was way overdue!

Thursday, April 7th - Departure Day

We woke before dawn so dh could take me to the airport. M flight left at 6 am so I slept most of the flight. I got to LA really early though! About 7:30. At LAX I just missed the shuttle and waited about an hour.

Man it was cold! I was not excited about the cold! I did however get sentimental as soon as I stepped outside. I really miss California! I hope the Air Force sends us back one day!:)

I spent the bus ride answering emails and getting quotes on my iPad. I heart my iPad by the way. :D

We arrived at Paradise Pier and I was welcomed off the bus and walked inside.

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As soon as I started checking in I was back on the iPad!

Then it hit me. I am at Disneyland!! Get off the Internet! Take in the atmosphere! Enjoy it all!

My room wasn't ready so I took my welcome packet to a bench and checked it all out. Then I got back on the iPad. :lookaroun

But just for a few minutes! :D

Then it was time to go explore!

I went in the bathroom and changed into flip flops. Shoot! I looked down and realized I forgot to paint my toenails!

I walked across the street to the Grand Californian first. This is one of my favorite hotels at any Disney property. We have stayed here many times and I think it's worth every penny!

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I walked out to Downtown Disney and mosied around slowly. I love DL's Downtown Disney. The atmosphere, the restaurants, the convenience. Love it!

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I snacked on some Weltzel pretzel bites while I walked.
 
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Disneyfalcon

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I decided to walk around DCA for a while.

I was sad to see the letters gone. I loved the letters. :cry:

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My first impression was - wow, what a disaster! Seriously! This place is torn up! This is the first sight when you walk in:

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It's going to be amazing when it's done, though!

I could not get over the size of Cars Land! Wow! It's ginormous!

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Here's the Cars meet and greet:

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I found Mickey!

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I stopped at Toy Story next to see if I happened to see Nicole! No luck. :(

I circled the rest of the way around. Here's the new Ariel ride!

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Disneyfalcon

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
There's my hotel!

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Love this view:

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Then I walked back to the Grand Californian.

I talked my way on to the DVC platform which was closed last time we stayed here. The views were amazing! Look at this:

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Mullholland Madness:

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Work on the Little Mermaid:

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After taking a gazillion pictures, I walked back downstairs.

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Right about then I remembered the Sephora in Downtown Disney! Yay! Toenail polish! I bought some and painted my toes inside a bathroom in the Grand Californian. :sohappy:
 
Disneyfalcon

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Then I walked back to Paradise Pier to check on my room. Still not ready! Jess and Dani were almost there so I hung out, took some pictures, and answered emails until they came.

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Finally their bus pulled up! Yay! We checked their luggage and walked over to the Grand Californian for a late lunch. We ate at Whitewater Snacks where I manage to eat at least once every trip. I was sad when they got rid of the steak sandwiches. I used to love those! I still love to eat there though. It's a nice atmosphere and I have never never seen it crowded. I mean no matter how packed the parks, it's never crowded.

We had about 30 minutes so we walked back over. Our room was done! Yay! They let us know that it was worth the wait because we had a theme park view! Yeah baby!!

We walked in and Wow. Just wow. We all three took pictures for 10 minutes then rushed off to our first meeting.

Check out this view:

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Disneyfalcon

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We met everyone and split into two groups to start the tours. We started back over at the Grand Californian. First we toured Pinocchio's workshop, the kid's club. My kids stayed here for a couple of hours a few years ago and loved it. They begged to go back.:)

Next we toured a room:

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An overlook in the hotel:

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Here's the view:

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Here's the concierge lounge. Disneyland resorts are different than most hotels as far as concierge goes. You don't have to be on a certain floor or in a particular room type. You can add concierge on to any room. I like that a lot!

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The lobby:

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Napa Rose:

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Next we walked out of the Grand Californian and into Downtown Disney. Literally. That's how the Grand Californian is. If you go out one of the exits you walk right into California Adventure. Another exit goes right into Downtown Disney. It's not like Saratoga Springs which is near Downtown Disney or like the Beach Club which is near Epcot.

The Grand Californian is attached to Downtown Disney and California Adventure. It's awesome. I love seeing people's reactions when they realize that. Some of the agents had that great reaction.:)
 
Disneyfalcon

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We walked through Downtown Disney to get to the Disneyland Hotel.

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The Disneyland hotel is in full refurb now. We always liked the Neverland Pool, and the new pool area will be even better.

The new rooms are so well done. The headboard lights up!

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Here's the carpet:

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The view from this room was just stunning.

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We passed the Big Thunder and Mickey suites. We couldn't go in.:cry:

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After we were done we walked back to Paradise Pier for dinner and a trade show.


We went back to our room around 9:00. Jess and Dani were so excited to see Disneyland they went back out. I knew I was getting up around 4 am to book the new cruise itineraries for several clients. I ironed, bathed and relaxed. When World of Color started I had a great view!

I went to sleep and woke up briefly when the girls came back in.
 
erstwo

erstwo

Well-Known Member
Oh so exciting!!! :sohappy:

And, in a funny way, it makes my "maybe-possibly-we-might-go-to-Disneyland-next-year-to-see-Carsland" trip seem like that much more of a reality. After all, it wasn't that long after you posted your Mediterranean Cruise TR that my mother in law mentioned/ booked our first Disney cruise. Coincidence? I think not. :D:lol:

Loving it!
 
Disneyfalcon

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
erstwo said:
Oh so exciting!!! :sohappy:

And, in a funny way, it makes my "maybe-possibly-we-might-go-to-Disneyland-next-year-to-see-Carsland" trip seem like that much more of a reality. After all, it wasn't that long after you posted your Mediterranean Cruise TR that my mother in law mentioned/ booked our first Disney cruise. Coincidence? I think not. :D:lol:

Loving it!
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Ooooh!! I think not!! It's like advertising for my trip reports!

If you read them you will go...:lol:
 
Disneyfalcon

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Friday, April 8th - Good Neighbor hotel tours

I woke up at 4! Yikes! :eek: The website was down until about 4:45. It finally worked and I booked everything! :sohappy: I did need to make a payment for someone so I stayed on hold while I got ready. Unfortunately I got cut off at about the 1 1/2 hour point.:(

I called back and lost the connection in the elevator at the 45 minute point. I couldn't win!:lol:

Oh well, I could try later. We were on our way to have breakfast with Mickey!! Breakfast was yummy. Mickey, Minnie, Daisy, Donald and Pluto were all there.

Here’s Jessica, Danielle and I. Oh yes, and our favorite mouse!

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Facebook profile pic!!

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After we finished we jumped in the bus to start our hotel tours. We were touring 8 Good Neighbor hotels. I was looking forward to it. I have stayed in a few of the ones we were touring but not all.
 
Disneyfalcon

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
I couldn't really take pictures. I tried but there were just too many of us crammed in to most of the rooms.

I did get some at our first stop, The Fairfield Inn. The rooms were recently redone and looked great. It’s a moderate level hotel. It was kind of amusing how much these rooms reminded me of Paradise Pier:

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Check out the roof!

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Next we went to the Camelot Inn. I've stayed here before and it was fine. I can’t say I loved it, but it was a great location not too expensive. The Tropicana Inn was right next door and I would give it the same review.

We drove to the hotel Menage for a tour and lunch next. I liked this one, it was really neat. The suite we toured was gorgeous! They were right next to the interstate and the pool area was a little loud, but the rooms were nice.

Next we drove to the Jolly Roger and Portofino Inn and Suites . Nothing to write home about, but a good option if you want to save money and won't be spending much time in the room.

After we finished there we went to the Anaheim Mariott Suites. It was very nice. I really liked it.

We finished at the Crowne Plaza. Room wise, these were my favorite. Really nice rooms.
 
Disneyfalcon

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
We arrived back at the hotel around 3:00. They passed out some Fastpasses for Soarin, Tower of Terror, and Screamin. Excellent!

We dropped off our stuff and walked over to California Adventure. We rode Soarin first. It's just about the best ride there ever was in my opinion.

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Next we walked over to Monsters Inc. It's a good dark ride. The interactive Roz at the end is hilarious.

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Disneyfalcon

Disneyfalcon

Well-Known Member
Original Poster
Next we were off to Tower of Terror:

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When we got off, it was time for our dinner reservations at Blue Bayou so we walked over to Disneyland:

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We all three had the filet mignon. Delicious. The appetizer was Jambalaya though and I was so stuffed from that it was hard to eat my steak!

It’s impossible to take pictures in here by the way. Well, unless I had a tripod, which I didn’t. Here’s a couple anyway:

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Tonight we were going to see World of Color. Woo hoo! The only downside? It was cold! We scoured the shops for gloves, hats and scarves!

After we found some, we went back to DCA to try to use our Screamin Fastpasses. Oops! We forgot they would be closing everything for the first World of Color show.

So we went back to the Grand Californian to meet everyone else. They gave us our wristbands and we walked in a group to our reserved area. We had a great view.

From looking at the various Fastpass areas, I definitely recommend the dining package location. They had the best viewing location. To stand there you have three choices. A World of Color dinner package at Ariel's Grotto, Wine Country Trattoria, or a World of Color picnic package.

The show as just awesome. I really loved it. I put down my camera and enjoyed. I snapped this at the end:

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Then it was finally bedtime!! Long but fun day!!
 
Ariel484

Ariel484

Well-Known Member
I love your report. As usual, your photos are gorgeous! Lifeguard Mickey looks great...and I totally would have done the same thing with the nail polish! :lol: Can't wait for more!!
 

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