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
Tuesday November

So once in the park where should we go? We didn't have much time, normally we might have tried to do Big Thunder and then hop in the Peter Pan queue but it was Christmastime at Disneyland.....so we went to it's a small world holiday.

A few years ago during Disneyland's 60th anniversary we went over New Years so we have been to Disneyland at Christmas before. I think I did a trip report about that. Anyway, my husband is not a small world fan, he has grown to appreciate it and thinks the one at DL is better than WDW's. He is not a man that clamors to ride small world and is more like "okay I'll ride because I could use a good 10+ minute rest". So when we rode the holiday one in 2015 for the first time and when the first thing he said to me after riding was "We HAVE to go on this again!", you know this a winner of an attraction! So this time that is where we headed!


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Once we got off it's a small world the park was officially closed. So we moseyed out enjoying the beauty of the park. We were getting sleepy, the Adrenalin of being there was starting to wear off. To us even though it was midnight, our bodies thought it was 2am.
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ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
A last look at Tuesday (well after midnight so I guess it was now Wednesday) November 20/21 2018

As past readers will know I enjoy taking pictures of merchandise, mostly because I love a lot of it but my pocketbook does not. So in order to remember all the cute stuff I liked I take pictures. So here is a look at some of the cute Christmas merchandise. We were both a little bummed that the snack shirt was a kids shirt. Hubs ended up buying the first shirt in this post and I ended up getting the green Main Street one towards the end.

Overall it was a great first partial day (very partial) at Disneyland. Any day where I can leave work and end it in a Disney park is fantastic!

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And a look at the cool ceiling of the Emporium.
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Coming up... Wednesday at Disneyland!
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
Tuesday (well after midnight so I guess it was now Wednesday) November 20/21 2018

We meandered past the castle all icy beautiful with its Christmas decorations. Then down an emptying Main Street and check out the decorations and the shops.
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Wow...I think I might actually like the icy castle in DL better than the one in WDW. It looks more....realistic I guess? Not that either is really realistic, bit it looks more like icicles and it's not so over the top. And I love the garland and wreath decorations on it. So much more festive! I don't remember ever seeing garland and such like this on Cinderella's castle. Do they do that and I just have never noticed?
 

Songbird76

Well-Known Member
A last look at Tuesday (well after midnight so I guess it was now Wednesday) November 20/21 2018

As past readers will know I enjoy taking pictures of merchandise, mostly because I love a lot of it but my pocketbook does not. So in order to remember all the cute stuff I liked I take pictures. So here is a look at some of the cute Christmas merchandise. We were both a little bummed that the snack shirt was a kids shirt. Hubs ended up buying the first shirt in this post and I ended up getting the green Main Street one towards the end.

Overall it was a great first partial day (very partial) at Disneyland. Any day where I can leave work and end it in a Disney park is fantastic!

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And a look at the cool ceiling of the Emporium.
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Coming up... Wednesday at Disneyland!
Did you know you can order t-shirts on Etsy that say "I'm just here for the snacks" and have the Mickey bars and such on them? They have them all the way up to Adult 4X. https://www.etsy.com/nl/listing/637...s-disney-mickey?ref=shop_home_active_11&pro=1
 

krause

Well-Known Member
Count me in for the year! :hilarious: I’m doing just one happy day at Disneyland March 4th or 5th - we’re in Palm Springs for a week and I had to beg to let DH give me one day ... he keeps saying his parents are paying for us to spend time with them in Palm Springs not ditching them to go to Disney but it’s thisclose to DL obviously I am going :happy:
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Wow...I think I might actually like the icy castle in DL better than the one in WDW. It looks more....realistic I guess? Not that either is really realistic, bit it looks more like icicles and it's not so over the top. And I love the garland and wreath decorations on it. So much more festive! I don't remember ever seeing garland and such like this on Cinderella's castle. Do they do that and I just have never noticed?
Did you know you can order t-shirts on Etsy that say "I'm just here for the snacks" and have the Mickey bars and such on them? They have them all the way up to Adult 4X. https://www.etsy.com/nl/listing/637...s-disney-mickey?ref=shop_home_active_11&pro=1


Both castles are very pretty decorated for Christmas, right now I can't decide which I like better. Although a month ago I was leaning to DL. There used to be garland on Main Street at WDW, I have pictures from it from (I think) 2009. The garland was really nice but there are different decorations in WDW now.

I think I have seen snack shirts on Etsy or maybe tee-public. Maybe I'll have to check them out again.
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Count me in!! This looks like so much fun!!:)

I'm glad you are here! :)

Following! So glad you started your report. :)

Thanks! I have been wanting to start the report for awhile, but I've been distracted with doing reading and cross-stitch lately.

Christmas in Disneyland looks incredible....I want to go back there soon but I'm sure it will be another few years so I will have to live through yours! :happy:

It was pretty cool, I hope you make it back there sooner than later. Maybe you can use some of your new DVC points!;)
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Count me in for the year! :hilarious: I’m doing just one happy day at Disneyland March 4th or 5th - we’re in Palm Springs for a week and I had to beg to let DH give me one day ... he keeps saying his parents are paying for us to spend time with them in Palm Springs not ditching them to go to Disney but it’s thisclose to DL obviously I am going :happy:

Of course you have to do a day at Disneyland! It isn't that far away from Palm Springs. You don't need to spend the whole time of your vacation with his parents.
 

ajrwdwgirl

Premium Member
Original Poster
Reading along, someday I'd love to go there! You're off to an excellent start, always love your reports!

Thanks for reading along! I'm glad you enjoy my reports, I enjoy yours as well. Hopefully my year long report will encourage you to pull the trigger on going to DL sooner than later!

It will be so nice to see a tr of Disneyland. Looking forward to your year long Disneyland adventure! Cannot wait for your SW Land pictures. The castle is sure decorated so festively in Disneyland, and IASM looks spectacular with all the lights. :)

Thanks! I'm excited and nervous for SW Land all at the same time. I'm pretty sure I will have to drag B out of there at park close!!!!

I'm in for the ride:joyfull:

Yeah! Glad you are here!
 

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