Our Merry Christmas/Moving Intermission Disneyland Trip Report

[TakeMeThere81]

Hello everyone!! So our family has officially moved from Mobile, AL to Seaside, OR, and on the way as a Christmas present to our patient kids, we stopped for 2 long days at the Disneyland Resort! What a treat! We have not been there since 2004, and our middle son was only a baby then, our youngest son had not even been born! Our kids are quite versed in Disney Parks, but this one was a little bit different!

I'm going to try my best to get right into the trip report!

Here's the link to our last TR from WDW in October 2009:

http://forums.wdwmagic.com/showthread.php?t=499166


One thing you may notice if you read our last TR, we had planned on WDW then DL. The WDW thing did not work out understandably, since we were busy with moving, squeezing Christmas into our move and my husband finishing flight school. I couldn't even think about a trip to WDW we were so busy!!!

So December 25th, we spent Christmas in Palm Springs, CA with my husband's extended family. We woke up bright and early on December 26th to drive 2 hours to Disneyland Resort!

Unfortunately I'd gotten some sort of food poisoning or something on Christmas, and I still felt like poo on the morning we were to leave. But if any of you have been sick during a trip to Disney Parks, you know how somehow you find the strength via meds or whatever, and you just make it work. So that's what I did. I downed some Ibuprofen, and stocked up on 7-up and saltine crackers at a truck stop on the way up to Anaheim. As a side note, throughout the day I slowly started to feel better.

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Day 1: California Adventure

Ok, so back to the trip report!! It has taken me so long to get around to it! I'm starting to miss my Disney parks though, so this helps to rekindle some of the magic.

So anyway, we arrived in Anaheim and checked into our hotels. I packed up some saltine crackers and 7-up, and started to get excited. I didn't care how crappy my stomach felt, I wasn't going to let it ruin our trip. And it didn't. Over the course of the day, I started to feel progressively better. Disney...the cure for whatever ails ya! :lol:

Ok, so anyway, we headed to the parks! It is so weird driving into the DLR area, and still seeing all the normal city-ish things. We found the parking garage and waited...and waited...and smelled exhaust...and waited...

The parking garage is not magical at all, but I understand the predicament of Disney. There is only so much space, and if they want to expand upon their parks which I fully support, then they have to build UP to accomodate the inevitable cars. Either way, whatever, we parked and got on our way.

Immediately we realized it was COLD.

They have trams from the parking garage to Downtown Disney, which is connected to the other two parks.

You can walk, and it's not too far, but I think most people get on a tram. They are in and out with little waiting, even with larger crowds.

The first item on our agenda was taking our cutie little dog (her first time at Disney) to the magical kennel, which was under refurb but still taking clients.

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Sorry folks, photobucket seems to be having technical difficulties! I have resized my photos several times, reposted them and they are still showing up gynormous!! I'll try to get the problem fixed real soon, and then I will resume with the trip report!

 

[DisneyPrincess5]

What an adorable dog!
Can't wait to read about and see DL.

 

[nemofinder22]

Great trip report! looking forward to the rest!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

OK, so I guess we were just having a weird day because loggin in today, I see that the pictures are showing totally normal! OK, well on with the trip report! :sohappy:

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Ok, so I didn't get very far! Let's see, so we dropped the doggie off at the Kennel and proceeded to California Adventure! So first thing we did was split up. I went to get FP for Soarin' and my DH took the kids to head over to A Bug's Land. We had no plan whatsoever. No planning, nada. I just didn't have time! We'd been there before, and we just wanted to have a great time, no pressure. So we bookmarked in our minds the must-dos and then headed out for fun.

TLM-coming soon!

Grizzly River Run

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Grand Californian Hotel

Walls for the much anticipated new nighttime spectacular, Disney's World of Color

Detail on the Walls

I walked around and snapped a few pictures before heading back to A Bug's Land

 

[TakeMeThere81]

DH texted me around this point to tell me that he and the kids hadn't gotten far and wanted to get a bite to eat. They stopped here at the Pacific Wharf eatery place.

There was an area that was sort of western themed with all sorts of "musical" instruments. The kids enjoyed making a lot of noise.

Finally we did head over to A Bug's Land. This is a view from there.

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Lightning Bug Lamps

Heimlich taking us for a ride through his favorite snacks

Oops! Aaron closed his eyes, but I got a good shot of Ben and Caleb poking out behind him.

They piped yummy sugar cookie smell in at this part-mmmmm

Then, my boys' favorite part-a giant cupcake! Heimlich was full after that

 

[TakeMeThere81]

We continued exploring Flik's Fun Fair (love the Santa pencil-topper!)

Flik's Fliers...we just had to ride in the Chinese Takeout Box

Francis' Ladybug Boogie(much like Teacups)

Photo Op!

My Boys

After this, we strolled over to Paradise Pier to get in line for Toy Story Midway Mania!

Me and Ben-Mickey's Fun Wheel photo op(and the partially full(or partially empty depending on how you look at it-lol) lagoon.

Right as we were strolling by, I saw Goofy immerge from I think taking a break. I whispered to the boys to "Hurry!! Get in line!!" because not many people had noticed him yet. I love this sort of "classic" character spotting.

I also love the family photo we ended up getting. It turned out nice

I am sad to admit it, but since I was feeling slightly under the weather and had not gotten much sleep the night before, I'd forgotten to charge my camera battery(sound familiar with me?) I wasn't really on my A game that day.

So I was only able to get bits and pieces of the rest of our day at California Adventure on film.

 

[TakeMeThere81]

So we waited in line for Toy Story MM for about 25 minutes, not bad! The crowds were starting to thicken slightly, but overall they weren't bad at California Adventure. We really enjoyed TSMM, it was Caleb and Ben's first time. My husband is super competitive and since it was his first time, I had a leg up on him. He went for accuracy(rookie mistake!!) and I beat him by a shocking 50,000 points.:drevil: He was mortified and declared war on me and demanded a rematch!!

After all the spinning on TSMM I was starting to feel a little queasy again so I went to a snack stand and loaded up on bland snacks and 7-up to recharge. At this point our Soarin' Over California FPs were up so we headed over to Condor Flats

While I took Samuel(the biggest fan) on the ride, Ben took Caleb and Aaron over to see Mater and Lightning McQueen. I can't manage to get a non-blurry picture of Mater.

All day long we kept seeing all these big guys in tracksuits from University of Oregon and Ohio State U, there for the RoseBowl. I sure wish I'd paid closer attention, I may have known them!

So after we took turns riding Soarin', we were all starting to get kind of tired to tell you the truth. It was probably only 3pm, but we were tired. We strolled over to Hollywood Blvd and stopped to watch the Playhouse Disney Live! show. It is always a big hit with the kids, we love watching them experience the fun with their familar pals. It also gave us a chance to sit for a bit. After that, we headed back to the Twilight Zone Tower of Terror, my favorite!! I don't care if I was feeling a bit under the weather, I never miss ToT. It was the best ride ever!! And the 'shake-up' felt good on my stomach to tell you the truth.

After that, we contemplated the Aladdin stage show, but we have seen it before and figured our kids were too squirmy. The Muppets show also freaks them out so we strolled on past. We almost missed Mike and Sully to the Rescue ride! Since it is a California Adventure exclusive, we couldn't miss it. It was lots of fun!

The sun was starting to go down and it was quickly becoming chilly so I went back to the car to get our warmer coats. Ben hung out with the kids and they watched the Pixar Play Parade. I came back right as the last float was passing, along with bubbles and lots of fun music. The kids said it was great!!

Ben went and got us hot chocolate and tea and we walked back over to Paradise Pier to go on California Screamin'. Then we went on TSMM again, and Ben smoked me with points! Lastly, our whole family waited about 15 minutes to ride the huge Mickey's Fun Wheel. It was a very relaxing and enjoyable ride. If you don't like heights however, be sure to ride in a non-rocking ride vehicle!

We wanted to wait for the Electrical Parade(a childhood memory of mine), but we just couldn't. Everyone was cold and tired and it just didn't make sense to push it when we were going to Disneyland the next day. And we really wanted to make the most of our Disneyland day. So we strolled out of California Adventure which was beautifully lit up and cheery. Downtown Disney really had some beautiful lights also which I enjoyed on our way out.

Next up: Disneyland Day:sohappy:

 

[Disneyfalcon]

Yay! I'm so glad you're doing a Disneyland trip report!! I love all the pics. I have been at Disneyland with strep throat, and you're right, Disney does make you feel better. Although you are still worn out at the end of the day!

Can't wait for more!

 

[HollyBelle]

This is great, Melanee! I hate that you weren't feeling good, but I must say, it doesn't show! Reading your report makes me think Brett and I need to start planning our first Disneyland trip. I absolutely love the picture with Santa Goof!! It's definitely frame worthy. :sohappy:

 

[TakeMeThere81]

This is great, Melanee! I hate that you weren't feeling good, but I must say, it doesn't show! Reading your report makes me think Brett and I need to start planning our first Disneyland trip. I absolutely love the picture with Santa Goof!! It's definitely frame worthy. :sohappy:

Thanks HollyBelle! I actually ordered the Santa Goofy picture on a mousepad on photopass.com!

I'm sorry I haven't kept up doing this TR! I don't know what it is...I guess I've just been so swamped with school and my DH is away in training(6 weeks long this time...ugh). I'm so distracted. Usually I distract myself with WDW...for some reaons not this time:veryconfu

But on with the show today!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Day 2: Disneyland!

OK, so the night we went to California Adventure, we actually got to bed at a decent hour and the morning we were to go to Disneyland, I woke up at 6am, feeling a million times better!! It was deceiving...I didn't know if it was a fluke or if I would end up crashing half way through the day. I hadn't eaten much the night before except some soup, saltines and 7up, yet this morning I woke up with more energy than I do when I feel normal! Who knows? Either way, I was up and my normal get-up-and-go self!

So we knew this place would probably be packed today so we arrived to park around 8am. Opening was at 9am. The parking lot they took us to was not the parking garage and it was much more Disney-ish. We just went ahead and walked to the property entrance then we got in line. There was already a lot of people there, but it always looks intimidating before the gates open. So we got a place in line and shivered a bit from the cold. I tried to get a few pictures as we headed over. One thing is, although we were there prior to entrance, I don't remember any sort of "opening ceremony". Not sure what that's all about. Again, we've been to WDW so much since we've been to Disneyland so the workings of Disneyland are foreign to us.

 

[TakeMeThere81]

And Sleeping Beauty peeking out from the hub

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Now forgive some of my pictures which were snapped on the go. DH doesn't understand my obsession for landscape pictures and has a bit of a commando attitude when touring new parks. I don't mind at all, I almost always get a gazillion pictures either way. But don't mind if they are a bit blurry or seem on-the-go. They were!

So we headed to Adventureland first

To experience The Indianan Jones Adventure. This is such an awesome ride! The detail is just stunning. I took our older boys and got a baby swap for DH to go later. He took our youngest over to Pirates of the Carribean.

Some of the queue and inside the Temple of the Forbidden Eye:

There were these inscriptions all over the walls throughout the queue in the temple. I remember them from when this attraction opened way back in the mid-90s. I was in Jr High when we went on it and they gave everyone cards with a deciphering code so you could go through the queue and interperet the inscriptions on the walls. No such luck these days, now they are just for decoration I guess.

The ride was awesome!!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Next we mosey-ed on over to the New Orleans Square area to try to meet up with DH in the Pirates area. He'd gone ahead and was on the ride so I went ahead and followed suit by getting in line with the other boys.

Just a few toward Tom Sawyer Island from Pirates queue

so-so picture of the Blue Bayou restaurant inside the Pirates ride...

Now, a lot of people mention that the Pirates ride at Disneyland is much better, I agree. It is much longer, so there are a few extra scenes, such as an extended jail scene and of course, quite a bit longer swamp scene at the beginning. I don't want to give away too much else, but it is definitely longer. I love the tremendous amount of detail at Pirates DL, such as all the fireflies in the swamp scene.

This was a gift shop outside of Pirates...

One thing DH and I noticed was that at MK, a lot of rides exit into gift shops while at DL it is not as often. I think that was a concept that came about later on, and many of the main attractions at DL were already established before some brainiac came up with that marketing scheme.

Ahhh, New Orleans Square. It was so beautiful all decked out for Christmas

 

[TakeMeThere81]

The Plaza Restaurant(I think), just outside of Pirates area.

So next we decided to head over to Big Thunder, which wasn't too far away. Apparently DH and Aaron had already tackled Big Thunder, but he didn't mind waiting again so we could all go.

If you wait in the Standby queue area for Big Thunder, the train goes right over your head...that was cool

My coolest BTMRR picture so far

And then we headed over toward the Matterhorn...

A little scenery along the way as we passed Mark Twain Riverboat