- In the Parks
- No
This will be long. It will be detailed. It will include photos. And I hope it helps some of you plan your upcoming trips
.
A little background info for those of you that don't know me. I'm 18. I graduated from high school in May. I've been on a whopping 42 trips to WDW and will be returning in August. I had travelled to Disneyland once when I was 14. This was before Carsland, but I already knew a lot about what to expect. I also got help planning on here. I would like to thank Raven24 and Cosmic Commando as both had especially helpful advice. My parents and my brother, 11, were in attendance for this trip. We were there 6 days, June 21-27. The following notes are modified from my original journal.
Day 1 (the most detailed)
Weeks, even months before my trip, I was excited beyond belief. Disneyland awaited me. It was so long since I've been. It was only for a week last time, as it is this time, but it was one of the most memorable weeks of my life. Strange, though, how when a memorable week happens at 14, you tend to forget a lot of it by the time you're 18.
We arose at 5:30 to be out the door by 6:30 to catch our 9:35 flight out of here. We flew Southwest directly from BWI to Los Angeles international. My brother really wanted to go to Silver Diner, and it probably would have been nice, but we didn't have a lot of time, so we opted to eat at McDonalds, a place I normally refuse, but it's hard to get an egg sandwich wrong.
I tried to sleep on the plane since the night before, I only got a mere 4 hours of sleep. I suffered with a headache. The flight itself was bumpy, but there were views of the grand canyon and the Rocky Mountains that made up for it.
We arrived at LAX. I remember from last trip that I despised that airport, and I was reminded why. It's so crowded, people are rude, not to mention everywhere, and it has an extremely confusing layout. Then we had a shuttle service that was supposed to pick us up. My mom was given instructions to call a number and tell them where we were. The phone rang and rang, but no one picked up. She finally gave up and called the 800 number. We didn't get to the van for 30 minutes. The driver himself was courteous and helpful. It's just my experience that no trip goes without some sort of fiasco.
We arrived at Grand Californian. Since we are DVC members and we had points to use, there was no reason to stay off property. We had stayed there on our previous trip and loved the convenience of being right outside the parks. The room was really nice as well.
When you put down that you're celebrating something, Disney treats you extremely well. In this case, Dad made sure to mark on the reservation that I was graduating. I got a special Minnie picture signed by Minnie herself. They didn't forget my brother. He also got a special Woody and Buzz picture. It too was signed. We are going to get them framed for our rooms. I also got a graduation button. The rest of my group got buttons that said, "Happily Ever After." My dad, of course, refused to wear his button, so he handed it to me. I put on my graduation button and attached the other one to my purse.
It seems with us that was must head to California Adventure before we do anything else. We headed straight to Carsland. I thought there was an off chance that there would be RSR FPs or that my dad and I could go through singles. I should know better.
Next was lunch. Flo's looks like a great location to eat, but they unfortunately don't have options my parents are thrilled about. And there was nothing my brother would eat. It turns out that only one restaurant, Taste Pilot Grille, serves chicken strips in the park, so we headed over there. I got a pretty decent burger there.
I marvel at how different the park is from when I was there a mere four years ago. It's changed so much. When I was there, they were putting in World of Color, so the lagoon was drained. All I could think about was how completely happy I was to be under that California sun and back like I've wanted to be for four years now.
Our first ride of the trip was California Screamin'. Dad had gotten Fastpasses for it. I love it when the first ride of a trip is a coaster.
Next we did Mickey's Fun Wheel. Last time I got on the non stationary cars, I ended up very motion sick. I got on the stationary cars while the rest of my group hit the swinging cars. Thankfully, they were off a few minutes after me.
Next, we hit Silly Symphony Swings. It used to be Orange Stinger before they changed it. I like Silly Symphony better since the Orange Peel does not block the view. Although why is it called Silly Symphony? It's based on The Band Concert. Oh well. Nerd alert! Also, my brother can't pronounce the name
After that, we hit Jumpin' Jellyfish. I used to call this Maliboomer for sissies, but alas, Maliboomer is a thing of the past. It's a shame too. My brother was too short to ride it the last time and now it's gone. I really liked that ride too.
We hit Golden Zephyr next. That's a nice relaxing ride. Our last ride in California Adventure for the day was Journey Under the Sea. It's a carbon copy of the one that we have in WDW except for the queue, surrounding area, and the fact that it's not located in Fantasyland. Mom and I like to act absolutely silly on that ride, singing the entire way through.
Ducks are a feature on both ends of the coast...
Also, midday: Toy Story Mania: 40 minute, Soarin' (Over California): 35 minutes. Journey Under the Sea: no wait. That is all. Average WDW waits for the same rides respectively: 120+, 60+, 120+.
We headed back to the room to chill for a bit, and then we headed to Disneyland Park for dinner at Blue Bayou. It's a nice dark restaurant that you can watch boats from Pirates pass through. The problem with it being dark was that I was starting to fall asleep over my food. By the time I got outside I was fine. I ordered a filet mignon, au gratin potatoes, roast vegetables, and Gumbo. The steak was fine, but nothing like what I get at Le Cellier or Yachtsman. The Gumbo was a bit spicy for my taste. My dad ordered the same thing. We agreed that it was merely fine. I ended up not eating the vegetables.
Our first Disneyland ride was, of course, Pirates. Ever since we rode that version, ours has never been the same. It is superior in so many ways. More rooms, more animatronics in existing rooms. Longer ride, more popular. I like our queue better and our end scene with Jack Sparrow is a bit better, but they can't help that, and the rest of the ride is uncomparable.
Our next ride was Haunted Mansion. The one back in WDW is far superior. Ours has the new interactive queue and new special effects added. Theirs was missing the effects, and I noticed the sound was out of sync and some of the existing effects were not functioning. It needs a refurb, but this probably won't happen until Big Thunder Mountain returns. I also like ours because it's a longer ride.
We headed over to Adventureland to ride Jungle Cruise. Although WDW's Jungle Cruise could use a refurb and some additional animals, the two rides are completely different, and I can't say one is better than the other, though I like WDW's tunnel. Both versions could stand to have their sound systems replaced, as the back of the boat completely missed the mother-in law joke (my absolute favorite) .
The nice thing about Disneyland is that you can zigzag the park and it's not too much walking. Try to walk from Jungle Cruise to Buzz in WDW is a hike, but here, it was fairly short. Which is why we hit Astro Blasters next. The first time we went through, I noticed that my cannon wasn't working properly. I hit the target, it flashed and my cannon lit up, but my score said the same thing. I told the cast member at the end and he let us ride it again.
The ride I was looking forward to most was Matterhorn. I had heard that it had gotten a major refurbishment a few years ago which included new cars. With getting 6 people in a vehicle instead of 4, the line moved much more quickly. The cars were ten times as comfortable as they had been in the past. Not only that, but the inside looked great. It looked bright and new. Everything was working. It was restored to a great splendor which we all noticed. The only thing is that track is still rough and the next day my old car accident injury was acting up.
Dad had gotten Fastpasses for Indiana Jones, so we did that one next. I had forgotten how cool that ride really is. The ride vehicles themselves are similar to Dinosaur, but this ride is much more popular and with good reason. It's different every time you ride it. The effects are amazing. You feel as though you are really on this adventure.
My mom and brother left after this. They were the smart ones. Dad decided that he wanted to ride Splash Mountain. I asked him why he wanted to ride that one. I remember it being an inferior version of the ride. He insisted that he wanted to ride it. We were given seats one and two, of course. I normally would ask to be moved to the back, but for some reason, I didn't. We got absolutely soaked on that thing. My shorts could have been ringed out. Dad and I agreed that was the wettest we had ever gotten on Splash Mountain. At least both of us wore jackets so our shirts weren't terrible. At 11 pm, we left the park for the night. And we were completely exhausted. A recurring theme throughout this trip.
More later, I promise!
.A little background info for those of you that don't know me. I'm 18. I graduated from high school in May. I've been on a whopping 42 trips to WDW and will be returning in August. I had travelled to Disneyland once when I was 14. This was before Carsland, but I already knew a lot about what to expect. I also got help planning on here. I would like to thank Raven24 and Cosmic Commando as both had especially helpful advice. My parents and my brother, 11, were in attendance for this trip. We were there 6 days, June 21-27. The following notes are modified from my original journal.
Day 1 (the most detailed)
Weeks, even months before my trip, I was excited beyond belief. Disneyland awaited me. It was so long since I've been. It was only for a week last time, as it is this time, but it was one of the most memorable weeks of my life. Strange, though, how when a memorable week happens at 14, you tend to forget a lot of it by the time you're 18.
We arose at 5:30 to be out the door by 6:30 to catch our 9:35 flight out of here. We flew Southwest directly from BWI to Los Angeles international. My brother really wanted to go to Silver Diner, and it probably would have been nice, but we didn't have a lot of time, so we opted to eat at McDonalds, a place I normally refuse, but it's hard to get an egg sandwich wrong.
I tried to sleep on the plane since the night before, I only got a mere 4 hours of sleep. I suffered with a headache. The flight itself was bumpy, but there were views of the grand canyon and the Rocky Mountains that made up for it.
We arrived at LAX. I remember from last trip that I despised that airport, and I was reminded why. It's so crowded, people are rude, not to mention everywhere, and it has an extremely confusing layout. Then we had a shuttle service that was supposed to pick us up. My mom was given instructions to call a number and tell them where we were. The phone rang and rang, but no one picked up. She finally gave up and called the 800 number. We didn't get to the van for 30 minutes. The driver himself was courteous and helpful. It's just my experience that no trip goes without some sort of fiasco.
We arrived at Grand Californian. Since we are DVC members and we had points to use, there was no reason to stay off property. We had stayed there on our previous trip and loved the convenience of being right outside the parks. The room was really nice as well.
When you put down that you're celebrating something, Disney treats you extremely well. In this case, Dad made sure to mark on the reservation that I was graduating. I got a special Minnie picture signed by Minnie herself. They didn't forget my brother. He also got a special Woody and Buzz picture. It too was signed. We are going to get them framed for our rooms. I also got a graduation button. The rest of my group got buttons that said, "Happily Ever After." My dad, of course, refused to wear his button, so he handed it to me. I put on my graduation button and attached the other one to my purse.
It seems with us that was must head to California Adventure before we do anything else. We headed straight to Carsland. I thought there was an off chance that there would be RSR FPs or that my dad and I could go through singles. I should know better.
Next was lunch. Flo's looks like a great location to eat, but they unfortunately don't have options my parents are thrilled about. And there was nothing my brother would eat. It turns out that only one restaurant, Taste Pilot Grille, serves chicken strips in the park, so we headed over there. I got a pretty decent burger there.
I marvel at how different the park is from when I was there a mere four years ago. It's changed so much. When I was there, they were putting in World of Color, so the lagoon was drained. All I could think about was how completely happy I was to be under that California sun and back like I've wanted to be for four years now.
Our first ride of the trip was California Screamin'. Dad had gotten Fastpasses for it. I love it when the first ride of a trip is a coaster.
Next we did Mickey's Fun Wheel. Last time I got on the non stationary cars, I ended up very motion sick. I got on the stationary cars while the rest of my group hit the swinging cars. Thankfully, they were off a few minutes after me.
Next, we hit Silly Symphony Swings. It used to be Orange Stinger before they changed it. I like Silly Symphony better since the Orange Peel does not block the view. Although why is it called Silly Symphony? It's based on The Band Concert.
Oh well. Nerd alert! Also, my brother can't pronounce the name
After that, we hit Jumpin' Jellyfish. I used to call this Maliboomer for sissies, but alas, Maliboomer is a thing of the past.
It's a shame too. My brother was too short to ride it the last time and now it's gone. I really liked that ride too. We hit Golden Zephyr next. That's a nice relaxing ride. Our last ride in California Adventure for the day was Journey Under the Sea. It's a carbon copy of the one that we have in WDW except for the queue, surrounding area, and the fact that it's not located in Fantasyland. Mom and I like to act absolutely silly on that ride, singing the entire way through.
Ducks are a feature on both ends of the coast...
Also, midday: Toy Story Mania: 40 minute, Soarin' (Over California): 35 minutes. Journey Under the Sea: no wait. That is all. Average WDW waits for the same rides respectively: 120+, 60+, 120+.
We headed back to the room to chill for a bit, and then we headed to Disneyland Park for dinner at Blue Bayou. It's a nice dark restaurant that you can watch boats from Pirates pass through. The problem with it being dark was that I was starting to fall asleep over my food. By the time I got outside I was fine. I ordered a filet mignon, au gratin potatoes, roast vegetables, and Gumbo. The steak was fine, but nothing like what I get at Le Cellier or Yachtsman. The Gumbo was a bit spicy for my taste. My dad ordered the same thing. We agreed that it was merely fine. I ended up not eating the vegetables.
Our first Disneyland ride was, of course, Pirates. Ever since we rode that version, ours has never been the same. It is superior in so many ways. More rooms, more animatronics in existing rooms. Longer ride, more popular. I like our queue better and our end scene with Jack Sparrow is a bit better, but they can't help that, and the rest of the ride is uncomparable.
Our next ride was Haunted Mansion. The one back in WDW is far superior. Ours has the new interactive queue and new special effects added. Theirs was missing the effects, and I noticed the sound was out of sync and some of the existing effects were not functioning. It needs a refurb, but this probably won't happen until Big Thunder Mountain returns. I also like ours because it's a longer ride.
We headed over to Adventureland to ride Jungle Cruise. Although WDW's Jungle Cruise could use a refurb and some additional animals, the two rides are completely different, and I can't say one is better than the other, though I like WDW's tunnel. Both versions could stand to have their sound systems replaced, as the back of the boat completely missed the mother-in law joke (my absolute favorite
) .The nice thing about Disneyland is that you can zigzag the park and it's not too much walking. Try to walk from Jungle Cruise to Buzz in WDW is a hike, but here, it was fairly short. Which is why we hit Astro Blasters next. The first time we went through, I noticed that my cannon wasn't working properly. I hit the target, it flashed and my cannon lit up, but my score said the same thing. I told the cast member at the end and he let us ride it again.
The ride I was looking forward to most was Matterhorn. I had heard that it had gotten a major refurbishment a few years ago which included new cars. With getting 6 people in a vehicle instead of 4, the line moved much more quickly. The cars were ten times as comfortable as they had been in the past. Not only that, but the inside looked great. It looked bright and new. Everything was working. It was restored to a great splendor which we all noticed. The only thing is that track is still rough and the next day my old car accident injury was acting up.
Dad had gotten Fastpasses for Indiana Jones, so we did that one next. I had forgotten how cool that ride really is. The ride vehicles themselves are similar to Dinosaur, but this ride is much more popular and with good reason. It's different every time you ride it. The effects are amazing. You feel as though you are really on this adventure.
My mom and brother left after this. They were the smart ones. Dad decided that he wanted to ride Splash Mountain. I asked him why he wanted to ride that one. I remember it being an inferior version of the ride. He insisted that he wanted to ride it. We were given seats one and two, of course. I normally would ask to be moved to the back, but for some reason, I didn't. We got absolutely soaked on that thing. My shorts could have been ringed out. Dad and I agreed that was the wettest we had ever gotten on Splash Mountain. At least both of us wore jackets so our shirts weren't terrible. At 11 pm, we left the park for the night. And we were completely exhausted. A recurring theme throughout this trip.
More later, I promise!
