Trip Report 2018-2019 A Year in the Land (Disneyland)...a multi-trip report

Hello and welcome to my trip report for my year as an annual passholder to Disneyland. Me (Amy) and my husband (Brad) have been passholders of both Disneyland and Walt Disney World but this year we decided to be exclusive to just the Land. It was a little painful to give up going to WDW this year, we consider it our home park but we also enjoy Disneyland too. I think I have a little more fondness to it than Brad, but anyway.... So why are we passholders for DL exclusively this year instead of WDW or both parks. Well financially it didn't necessarily make sense. Brad is a big Star Wars fan and I'm a big Disney nerd so with Galaxy's Edge opening in the Land earlier than WDW that was a draw. And the D23 Expo is in Anaheim again this year so it checked boxes for both of us.

So I'm going to begin this report a little in the past, 2018, that's right so long ago! :) We traveled to Disneyland over Thanksgiving 2018 and bought our annual passes so that is where we will start the trip report.

Upcoming trips:
A. late March 2019
B. possibly (most likely) a solo trip for me over Easter 2019 (Why solo?...well Brad is a pastor and the congregation kind of expects him to be there over Easter. I'm a teacher and have a nice little break over Easter and the hubs is too busy over Holy week and Easter so he won't really notice I'm gone.)
C. Late June 2019 to celebrate our anniversary and birthdays all in June and in the same week. This trip will include Los Angeles, Sequoia National Park, Death Valley National Park, Joshua Tree National Park & Palm Springs as well as Disneyland (and perhaps if rumors are true our first entrance into Galaxy's Edge)
D. our last trip late August for Disneyland and D23 Expo

By the way...if any of you are in Disneyland when our paths cross it would be cool to have any meet ups or say hi. I've met a few awesome WDWMagic members in Walt Disney World and it has been so cool. Don't be afraid to say hi if you see us walking around too!:):cool:

So let's start the first leg of the trip report: November 20-25 2018

Tuesday November 20
Brad and I both had a full day at work. My day should have been full of students but since it is Deer Hunting week (or at least the big gun hunting week) in Wisconsin and Thanksgiving week, our district gives the kids the week off and teachers report for two days of inservice. So it wasn't a hectic day for me. However there was a little kerfuffle in the plan for today. It involved our beloved and spoiled minature schnauzer Kapono.
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My boss said that we could leave at 3pm instead of 3:30pm so hubby picked me up on the way to drop off Kapono at the kennel. Kapono has only spent 2 days ever in this kennel (good experience) usually she stays with my sister but she was unable to care for her this time. So it was the first time Kapono was going to be spending an extended time in a kennel. So we arrived at the kennel and no one is there, even though it is check-in time and the main building for the kennel is unlocked. So we go inside and wait thinking that maybe the owner is just busy at the house and will be out soon. After 5 minutes no one came even though dogs were barking in her house and in the kennel. So hubs gives her a call. And in the mean time I'm concerned that she left the kennel unlocked! Anyway, the lady was surprised we were calling and had lost track of time and was an hour away from the kennel. But more importantly she was surprised that we were there because she hadn't written down our reservation!!!! Hubs had the email confirmation though. Luckily she had one run left. She said it was luckily for us, but really it was lucky for her!!!! I don't know what we would have done if that run wouldn't have been available though. Although hubs said one of our church members would have pitched in for us. So I took Kapono out into the fenced in yard area and when I let her in she happily ran into the open caged run. I was glad she seemed happy to be there but a little concerned now at the professionalism of the kennel owner. Fast forward to the end of our trip when we picked her up...Kapono had been a good girl there and was safe (and clean). So it all worked out and this over-protective dog mom was happy, and the kennel owner apologized a few times.


So anyway, after we dropped Kapono off we drove up to Minneapolis to the airport for our flight. We ended up being pretty early for our flight but we'd rather wait safely at the airport than be stressed out in traffic. Check in and security took less than 15 minutes so we had a decent meal and drinks at the Minnesota Wild (our favorite hockey team) teamed restaurant). We hadn't planned on eating here but I guess it was fate since we were wearing our Disney Minnesota Wild themed shirts.

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The seats we were in used to be 1st class but now the company is going more the Spirit route and these seats were $45 more to the base ticket price. So for that we thought it was a deal to have slightly bigger seats and more foot space for the flight.
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Adios Minnesota!
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We flew into LAX and took an Uber to Anaheim. The traffic was a little heavy in the arrival/departure area so it took our Uber driver a little while about 10-15 minutes to get to us, but it didn't seem too bad. We made it to Anaheim in about 40 minutes (our driver was a speed demon) but that was okay with us. We checked into our hotel the Best Western Park Place Inn, literally across the street from the entrance as seen below. We went to the ticket booth and purchased/cashed in 4 day park hoppers for our annual passes with Max pass and gleefully entered Disneyland with about 40 minutes until park close!

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ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Really like that photo you took of the paddlewheels at the rear of the steamboat. Not something you'd see every day.



Ha! Been there. I recall one time I had a late, connecting flight up to LaGuardia. Like yourself, I was probably back around row 18, and freaking out because it took people so long to depart. I literally had about 5 minutes to my connecting plane to Boston, and OF COURSE, the connecting flight gate was way the heck at the opposite end of the terminal. :rolleyes:

So I'm running like crazy to get there, and twice in the overhead paging system I'm hearing my name, "Passenger (x)" please go immediately to Gate (x), your aircraft is ready for departure." 😨 I mean, they could see in the computer that my flight arrived late -- did they think I had gotten off and headed toward a bar for a leisurely cocktail, before heading to the gate??!!! :banghead:

Ugh, connections can be the bane of travel. Your last sentence made me laugh though.
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Great report of the adventures of “Bramy” at DLR!!!

Now we wait (im) patiently for the Amy solo report

Thanks for sharing

My photo request would be in and around the Grand Cali - I miss it and will not be back for at least another year

Max

Thanks. I’ll see what I can do about the Grand Cali. I was thinking of going over there to the Napa Rose Lounge on Easter.
 

Cesar R M

Well-Known Member
Sunday March 24

More adventures at Disneyland.

Some Pirates of the Caribbean and then we went to Bengal BBQ. I noticed in the seating area by Bengal BBQ this picture of the S.E.A.
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And some skewers from Bengal BBQ, this is the pork belly one.
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Brad picked the chicken one too.
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And a tiger tail.
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Then we rode the trolley and enjoyed some music on Main Street.
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The Dan's loved Brad's shirt.
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That shirt is amazing!
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Love love Napa Rose :) You should definitely go for the lounge :) Have a fun trip!

I've never been to Napa Rose. I was looking at the menu and they have a duck a'la orange dish on the menu now and that sounds fantastic and I see I can order it in the lounge so I won't have to sit at a table in the main restaurant on my own.
 

MySmallWorldof4

Well-Known Member
Friday March 22

It's a Disneyland day today!!!!! While Brad waited in line I wandered to take pictures in the esplanade and through the gates. Don't worry, by the time I came back to him he had made friends with the people behind us in line. They were at Disneyland for the first time but were WDW vets and had even been to Disneyland in Japan. They were fun to talk to and the time passed quickly! Thanks NYC family!

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And we are in!
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I was 11 when I went to Disneyland the first time. I expected to see this huge castle down the end of Main Street. I was a tad disappointed. I know it seems silly. I do prefer Cinderella Castle. While Sleeping Beauty Castle is pretty, I feel more in awe when I look at Cinderella Castle. That is a great shot of you.:)
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
I was 11 when I went to Disneyland the first time. I expected to see this huge castle down the end of Main Street. I was a tad disappointed. I know it seems silly. I do prefer Cinderella Castle. While Sleeping Beauty Castle is pretty, I feel more in awe when I look at Cinderella Castle. That is a great shot of you.:)

Funny about your thoughts about Sleeping Beauty Castle. When we went for the first time in 2007 I was prepared for the smaller castle but Brad was not. When we got to the castle reveal area of Main Street Brad turned to me and said "That's the castle?" with some disgust, not he appreciates it's quaintness but we do prefer Cinderella Castle.
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Really like that photo you took of the paddlewheels at the rear of the steamboat. Not something you'd see every day.



Ha! Been there. I recall one time I had a late, connecting flight up to LaGuardia. Like yourself, I was probably back around row 18, and freaking out because it took people so long to depart. I literally had about 5 minutes to my connecting plane to Boston, and OF COURSE, the connecting flight gate was way the heck at the opposite end of the terminal. :rolleyes:

So I'm running like crazy to get there, and twice in the overhead paging system I'm hearing my name, "Passenger (x)" please go immediately to Gate (x), your aircraft is ready for departure." 😨 I mean, they could see in the computer that my flight arrived late -- did they think I had gotten off and headed toward a bar for a leisurely cocktail, before heading to the gate??!!! :banghead:
I always wonder about that...can't they see your first flight was late? What are you supposed to do? The only time we had a delay, it was a 7 hour one, so we missed our connection by several hours, but had a representative who met all of us with that connecting flight at the gate when we got off the plane, and she led us through the airport to get our luggage (We had to go through customs) and get on a bus they had chartered since there were so many of us who had the same connecting flight. And there's one other time that we missed our connecting flight because of a Russian woman at the passport check who didn't speak English and didn't have the required address for where she was staying. If you are entering the US, you have to provide addresses and phone numbers for the lodging while you are in the US, whether it's friends, family, or a hotel. We were in line for 2 hours waiting to go through passport check, and then FINALLY they opened another line, and let all the people in BACK of us get into the new line. I was so angry...we had all been standing there for 2 hours waiting, and then the people who had only been waiting for 20 minutes from another flight got to bypass us, and we missed our connection. I feel like there should be a line for people with connecting flights to catch...let them go first.
 

Rista1313

Well-Known Member
I always wonder about that...can't they see your first flight was late? What are you supposed to do? The only time we had a delay, it was a 7 hour one, so we missed our connection by several hours, but had a representative who met all of us with that connecting flight at the gate when we got off the plane, and she led us through the airport to get our luggage (We had to go through customs) and get on a bus they had chartered since there were so many of us who had the same connecting flight. And there's one other time that we missed our connecting flight because of a Russian woman at the passport check who didn't speak English and didn't have the required address for where she was staying. If you are entering the US, you have to provide addresses and phone numbers for the lodging while you are in the US, whether it's friends, family, or a hotel. We were in line for 2 hours waiting to go through passport check, and then FINALLY they opened another line, and let all the people in BACK of us get into the new line. I was so angry...we had all been standing there for 2 hours waiting, and then the people who had only been waiting for 20 minutes from another flight got to bypass us, and we missed our connection. I feel like there should be a line for people with connecting flights to catch...let them go first.

When I worked for the airlines, we were definitely trained to check and be aware if connecting passengers were coming in late, but that doesn't mean we always held the plane for them. There were lots of factors... was the flight already full? (they use to over sell them by up to 20%, not sure if they do that anymore) (if you aren't there at boarding they can give your seat away) Also, sometimes people are so oblivious that they dawdle on the way to the next gate. Not everyone has that "urgency" gene. So we would make announcements to make sure they were hurrying! Lots of factors... believe me, gate agents don't want you to miss your flight because then they have to do more work to help accommodate you on the next available flight.
 

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