Trip Report 10 hotel reservations: Has anyone in history of Disneyland trip planning ever been this indecisive!!

I have recently returned from 8 nights at Disneyland from 30th November until the 8th of December. Last year after a break of many years I took a trip to both Disneyland and Disneyworld broken up by a train trip and some time in New Orleans but this year I was looking for a shorter (and cheaper) trip.

I was originally going to go to WDW this year as I thought Disneyland would be in a bad state with both ROA and the railroad shut. I even bought my ticket and booked a room at Port Orleans Riverside, but then I started to stress about the cost. At the same time, I was hearing that Rivers of Life might be indefinitely delayed and realised that I would be missing the opening of Pandora by only a few months while hearing about how good the new Frozen show at DCA was and that Disneyland was looking (almost) like its normal beautiful self.

So, a more financially prudent trip was called for and I decided that I would get my Disney fix this year by taking a shorter trip to Disneyland and staying in a cheap offsite motel. However, financial prudence does not come easily to me and none of the off-site options seemed appealing. As time went on I became more and more tempted by the Disneyland Hotel, and once the discounts were announced for my dates I booked it. I even booked briefly at the Grand Californian. I kept an off-site reservation on the back-burner in case I decided to come to my senses. At some point in my trip planning I made and cancelled bookings at the Park Vue Inn, Grand Legacy, Hotel Indigo, Courtyard by Marriott Theme Park Entrance, Fairfield Inn, Springhill Suites (cancelled, rebooked and cancelled again), Hyatt House and the almost identical Hyatt Place. So, where did I end up staying? – I will keep you in very mild suspense until my next post.

 

[Kiwiduck]

November 30th (travel and arrival day).

Unlike last year in which I worked until midday before rushing to the airport for my flight, this year I had the whole day off. This was much more relaxing, with lots of time to finish packing and hang out with my dog. I travelled from home to Auckland International Airport with no issues which was fortunate as the roads around the airport are being worked on causing huge delays and many people have been missing flights. Once through customs and security at the airport I relaxed with some chips and wine.

The man who can be seen in the background of this shot farted loudly and unashamedly in the middle of the crowded Bar. I’m sure that you will all be proud to hear that he was an American! I hoped that given his accent and my destination that he would not be on my flight. He wasn’t, but unfortunately the flight was one of the worst I have ever been on: there was significant turbulence for almost all of the twelve hours. At different points in the flight I felt very nauseous but thankfully for my two seat-mates who I was stuck between, I didn’t actually throw up.

Things went much more smoothly once I landed. I made it into the terminal quickly and with only a few minutes to wait before the Disneyland express was due. I sat down to wait near a Japanese girl who had a Mickey Mouse backpack and a suitcase covered in stickers from the Tokyo parks. When she saw the Mickey hands luggage tags on my suitcases she smiled and said “Disneyland bus – yes?”. I confirmed for her that yes we were waiting in the right place. I admire her and anyone who travels by themselves to a country where they speak a different language. It is hard enough to work out what is happening at LAX without a language barrier and in the case of the Disneyland express there really isn’t any good signage to show you were to wait; you just have to work it out for yourself and hope for the best. The highlight of bus trip was actually being able to see the Star Wars land construction that I have been seeing on You Tube for myself. It went by too quickly to take a photo but it was great to actually see the scale of it for myself.

So which of the multiple hotel bookings did I end up using: The bus dropped me off at the ………… Hyatt House. I had kept my Disneyland Hotel reservation up until the very last day that I could cancel without penalty in the hope that I could make it work, but in the end I cancelled and thought I would be staying at the Courtyard by Marriott theme park entrance. But, at the extra last minute Hyatt House released discounted rates for my dates that were $30 less a night than when I last booked at that hotel: around $120 a night. It was too good a deal to pass up. Moral of the story – keep checking prices up until the last minute – surprisingly (to me anyway) they can get cheaper closer to your travel dates.

This hotel is almost new, immaculately clean, great staff, spacious room, internal hallways, free breakfast and with a large shop (Walgreens) beneath it. But, it was a 15 to 20-minute walk to the gates depending on the waits at the 4 set of lights I needed to pass through and as I walked to and from my room passing places I had booked and cancelled, I wished I had picked somewhere closer. Here are some photos of my theme park view: grizzly peak and the matterhorn!, don’t get that at the Disneyland Hotel.

After resting for a while I headed to the parks to sort out my tickets and absorb some atmosphere and fried chicken.

Daylight was just beginning to fade as I made it inside and so my first impressions of the park this year were of the lovely sparkling lights and the beautiful soft pink glow of the castle.

After wandering around taking things in I headed to the Plaza Inn. I had the best view of the castle through the trees while I ate my delicious and enormous feast of chicken and yule log.

My eyes were bigger than my stomach and I couldn’t finish the massive plate but it was worth it. I wrapped some chicken up in a napkin to have for breakfast but “tragically” left it on the bench overnight instead of putting it in the fridge so I never got to eat it.

While I was eating the castle was magically transformed into an ice palace!

After dinner I went to fantasyland and rode Pinocchio and Snow White before tiredness from travelling and excessive amounts of fried chicken hit me and I decided to head back to my room. I checked out Small World on the way out and I can safely say that it is one of the most beautiful sights on earth.

 

[cgersic]

Yay! Good to see you reporting again! Following along...

 

[Kiwiduck]

Yay! Good to see you reporting again! Following along...

Thank you - it was good to be travelling to Disney again. Wish I could go more often (I'm sure we all wish that!!!).

 

[Kiwiduck]

Day 2 (part 1)
Today I woke up late and headed to the park at around 10am. This started a bad trend of missing rope drop almost every day whereas last year I was up every day. Oh well, l’m not really much of a morning person. I had breakfast at the hotel – there was a full spread each day of bacon, sausage, eggs, waffles or pancakes, some type of potato, juices, cereals and nice coffee. There was plenty of space and the area was always well maintained by servers and ‘suited” staff. The food was a bit mediocre but by the end of the week I became addicted to the sausage!

I spotted the omnibus when I got to the park and took a seat front and centre at the top. Main street was busy with lots of vehicles, little princesses and Christmas clad characters.

Aren't they adorable in their Christmas sweaters and hats!

I headed to Adventureland first. I loved the new (to me) emerald elephant decorating the top of the store.

I rode the jingle cruise and this guy was my skipper. He was great, very natural and funny.

After this I got a fastpass for Indiana Jones and then rode Pirates of the Caribbean and Splash Mountain.

Splash seemed a bit empty of critters today and I got wetter than I have ever been before. If I had sat down fully clothed in the bathtub I would have been no wetter than I was. It made me feel a bit disgruntled with one of my favourite rides. After this I rode Pooh and then Indiana jones soaking wet. Indiana had lots of show stoppages and there was no rolling boulder scene. The girls next to me were WDW regulars and seemed underwhelmed with the ride. I assured them that it was worth another go, that it’s actually an awesome ride when its working properly.

I was pleased to finally find the home of the Little Man of Disneyland.

After this I bought a coffee and drank it on the Mark Twain while drying off in the sunshine. It’s wonderful being able to chill out with a drink on the docked boat watching the activity in New Orleans Square. It’s almost (but not quite) as good as being able to ride. I’m looking forward to riding the Mark Twain and Sailing Ship Columbia on the new and hopefully improved Rivers of America on my next trip.

 

[Kiwiduck]

Day 2 (Part 2).

After drying off on the Mark Twain I had a look around the shops in New Orleans Square. I bought pirate Stitch and the Pluto with keys for my dog. I was going to give her one when I got home and one for Christmas but I ended up giving her both as soon as I got home. The joy I got from watching her try and work out how she was going to carry both of her new toys in her tiny mouth at the same time was well worth the cost.

There was a great pirate band playing in New Orleans square so I watched them play while I waited until my late lunch reservation.

Lunch was to be somewhere I had never eaten before but heard good things about: Carnation Café.

I loved that they had actual (imitation) carnations on the tables.

I had a patty melt on sourdough bread which was amazing. I enjoyed my lunch so much I made another reservation to eat there for breakfast later on in the trip.

After lunch I enjoyed the sunshine and took some photos in the hub for a while before riding Small World Holiday which was amazing.

 

[Kiwiduck]

Day 2 (part 3)
Once in DCA I headed straight to Cars Land. The daylight was just starting to fade and the light was beautiful. It was a great time for the first visit of the trip.

My first ride on Radiator Springs Racers was perfect, I only waited 15 minutes in the single rider line (stand-by was 60 minutes), it was just getting dark, the air was crisp and everything was at its most beautiful. I was feeling so happy to be back in such a special place.

After RSR I had a chocolate milkshake at Flos, my favourite place to eat at DLR. It was a bit cold to sit in my favourite spot which is outside overlooking RSR so I sat inside today. It took me ages to realise that the mirror I could see on the wall was actually a rear vision mirror.

After my milkshake I slowly headed out of Radiator Springs towards the Little Mermaid.

This was a fun show; they got some ladies up to dance that really didn't want to - but I they seemed to enjoy themselves in the end.

Cars Land is amazing, both beautifully themed and with a great atmosphere. It's worth a trip to DLR to see even if (and i cant imagine why this would be the case) you had no interest in seeing anything else. And I don't even like the Cars movie!

 

[Kiwiduck]

Day 2 (part 4).

I queued for the Little Mermaid but the ride had different ideas and it stopped working just as I was about to get to the end of the queue. Instead I sat down with a nice citrusy beer and watched a quality performance by one of the Festival of Holidays acts called Raise. They had great voices and stage presence. All the Festival of Holidays entertainment acts I saw over the next week were awesome and I ended up spending much more time in DCA than I did last year because of the festival.

After this the Disneyland App was showing that Monsters Inc had a small wait time so I headed in that direction.

I love both Monsters Inc movies and think this is a fun and underrated ride. There was no one waiting (in fact I wasn’t 100% sure the ride was even open) so I rode it twice and had a go at taking some on-ride photos on my 2nd ride through.

After the ride I bought a MU cap from the stand outside the ride and then thoroughly tired from my long day I went back to my room having a good look at the lovely Christmas tree on the way out.

This tree is packed full of beautiful retro decorations, I love it.

 

[MotherofaPrincessLover]

Your report is making me think I need to take a Christmas trip to Disneyland someday!

 

[Kiwiduck]

Well you couldn't go wrong if you did! It is beautiful and a lot of fun

 

[HakunaMatata89]

looks like a fun time and that chicken looks tasty

 

[Kiwiduck]

looks like a fun time and that chicken looks tasty

Thank you - it was delicious; a yummy way to start the trip.

 

[Mrhappyplace]

The man who can be seen in the background of this shot farted loudly and unashamedly in the middle of the crowded Bar. I’m sure that you will all be proud to hear that he was an American!

Things went much more smoothly once I landed. I made it into the terminal quickly and with only a few minutes to wait before the Disneyland express was due. I sat down to wait near a Japanese girl who had a Mickey Mouse backpack and a suitcase covered in stickers from the Tokyo parks. When she saw the Mickey hands luggage tags on my suitcases she smiled and said “Disneyland bus – yes?”. I confirmed for her that yes we were waiting in the right place. I admire her and anyone who travels by themselves to a country where they speak a different language. It is hard enough to work out what is happening at LAX without a language barrier and in the case of the Disneyland express there really isn’t any good signage to show you were to wait; you just have to work it out for yourself and hope for the best.

Love that you included these two details of your trip! Great pictures! Thanks for the look at Disneyland.

 

[Kiwiduck]

Love that you included these two details of your trip! Great pictures! Thanks for the look at Disneyland.

Thank you

 

[Kiwiduck]

Day 3 (part 1)
This morning I started off in Disneyland with Pirates. I was sat behind a lady who was on Facebook for the whole ride – this was very distracting; both because of the brightness of the screen but mainly because I just couldn’t fathom why anyone would rather do something that they can do anytime, than enjoy a masterpiece of Imagineering that they have paid good money to enjoy.

I then queued for Haunted Mansion but just as I got to the point where I would be in the next group to be admitted inside the ride went down.
This is a picture of the mansion with a glimpse of Splash Mountain through the trees. They are deceptively close to each other.

These are the Nightmare before Christmas overlay decorations on the hearse outside the mansion.

After waiting hopefully for a while the CMs suggested we move on so I had a look around the shops of NOS and bought a Haunted Mansion book and top.

The fabric of this top is beautiful – I wish they would sell it by the metre so I could take it home and make curtains and cushions and throws and tea towels and such out of it. The book shocked me one night when I walked into my lounge in the dark and realised that the ghosts on the front cover glow in the dark!

After this I headed to Frontierland and rode Big Thunder. I love this ride but as I’m getting older it is starting to make me feel a little bit queasy. I didn’t feel like this on Hong Kong’s equivalent ride which is very similar but much smoother so I think it may be because of how much you get bumped around on the ride? It was cool to be able to see the Star Wars and other construction from the ride.

After this I looked around Frontierland for a while.

I then headed to Fantasyland to see if there was anything that had a short wait before I had to head to DCA for my lunch reservation. Snow white fit the bill so I had a quick ride on this before heading out of the park.

 

[Kiwiduck]

Day 3 (part 2)
I was heading to DCA for my Frozen at the Hyperion lunch package at Carthay Circle. I was excited for both lunch and the show. I loved Carthay Circle last year for the atmosphere even though I had found the food a bit average and the Frozen show was one of the reasons why I had made the trip this year. I wandered around and took some photos while I waited for lunch.

The toy drummers who put on a great show are returning to their toy box.

This is the menu which comes with the frozen package. You also get a lanyard and a pin along with your pass for the show. I have been using the lanyard at work.

The meal began with a salmon starter which was very nice. It also come with free bread (I love this American custom) and a non-alcoholic beverage. It amused me that they didn’t scale down their bread offering for a solo person, they brought me out an entire loaf of bread.

This is the appetiser: a soup and salad combo. The combination of cheese, salty ham and the slightly sweet apple in the salad was amazing – it was one of the best salads I have had. The parsnip and pear soup with bits of goose in it was also amazing. Because I was in a bit of a flash establishment I didn’t lift up the little cup and lick out every last drop but I thought about it.

This picture shows the main and drink. My drink was called a Sparkling Mare and was a beautiful colour and delicious. It had sparkling wine, elderflower liquer and aperol. The steak was one of the nicest I have ever eaten with a perfect crust on the outside and was absolutely melt in the mouth. The accompanying blue cheese risotto and sauce were also amazing.

This was dessert. After such a nice meal I would have preferred to finish off with a less gimmicky dessert and it didn’t live up to the standard of the rest of the meal. It would be nice to give adults a non-Olaf option.

By the time I was finished I was ready for my meet time for Frozen. The meal this year was far and away better than last year, so moral of the story is: order steak not a burger!

 

[Kiwiduck]

Day 3 (part 3)

The Frozen package allows you to pick your own seats before the rest of the crowd enters the theatre. I selected an aisle seat in the front row which offered a great view of the show and meant that at time actors were standing right next to me in the aisle which was a lot of fun.

The whole show was amazing from start to finish, especially Elsa. It was such a high quality production with great costumes, sets and voices. For me it was 10 times better than the Aladdin show it replaced. Sadly, for me I completely messed up my camera and almost everything was blurry which was a shame as I had such a good spot. The only shots that turned out kinda OK were of the townspeople in the aisle.

This next photo is completely blurry but is of my favourite moment in the show where normal Elsa “magically” changes into ice queen Elsa. It was a great moment that made the crowd gasp.

This was the only somewhat clear shot that includes someone other than townspeople. As well as Elsa who was great, the man playing Olaf was awesome – very Olaffy.

I had to shake my head in middle aged horror at two teenage girls in the audience who were wearing onesies. One at least had on an appropriately themed Olaf number but the other girl was simply wearing pyjamas in a theme park.

It was windy and freezing cold after the show and I considered buying a warm jacket I had seen with Mickey stitching and carrying on in the park. I managed to stop myself as I had another very similar but non-mickeyfied jacket back in the room keeping my suitcase warm. I decided to call it a day even though it was early. I think if I had picked one of the properties just across the road or the DLH I would have gone back later- but I couldn’t face the long walk, especially knowing how busy it would be.

Mrs Incredible was out and about meeting people on my way out.

 

[disneygeek 2069]

Love your trip report. I love how you stay positive when things don't go as planned . Really makes me want to change our plans from wdw to dlr. Your pictures are beautiful.

 

[Kiwiduck]

Love your trip report. I love how you stay positive when things don't go as planned . Really makes me want to change our plans from wdw to dlr. Your pictures are beautiful.

Thank you very much!

 

[Kiwiduck]

Day 4
This morning I used the magic morning option on my park hopper and arrived at 7am (eeek). I made my way as quickly as I could to Peter Pan and ended up waiting around 20 minutes – not too bad considering. Whenever I am waiting for this ride I always think “is this ride really worth waiting so much longer for than the other dark rides?” but I always enjoy it when I actually ride.

I then worked my way through some more Fantasyland rides: Alice in Wonderland, Mr Toad, Pinocchio, Snow White and the Storybook canal cruise.

I love the Snow White ride, especially seeing the 7 dwarves.

I think the Tea Cups are beautiful, especially the lanterns above but I never ride them as I don’t care for barfing on my holidays!