Our Merry Christmas/Moving Intermission Disneyland Trip Report

[TakeMeThere81]

Alright, so in keeping with seeing DL exclusive attractions, we headed for the Matterhorn

In the queue of the Matterhorn, you could see the Nemo Submarine ride

And the monorail would pass by as well

More Matterhorn

Our middle son was so scared of this ride for some reason! He wasn't kicking and screaming or anything and DH managed to get him to ride...we knew he'd love it, it was so the sort of thing he raves about. We weren't sure what had come over him. Of course, when we got off he said, "That was awesome!! Let's do it again!!"

Me and Aaron(youngest son)

 

[TakeMeThere81]

couple more of the Matterhorn and queue

Here is Aaron's impression of the Yeti:
http://http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nudYZbcYyq8

Next we headed over to Autopia so the boys could drive the cars. We got FPs because the wait was really long, and went to Space Mountain, next door, whose wait was not too bad. I went first solo(boys were intimidated for some reason) and got a child swap for DH.

Space-y stuff

Loading Dock

 

[TakeMeThere81]

DH swapped and went on his turn for Space Mountain. Caleb changed his mind and went with him. I hung out with Samuel and Aaron for a bit.

Next we went to Autopia.

Kids with thier FPs "He-he, we don't have to wait in line...!"

Samuel driving the cars:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QzMTF6NHj7k

They have so much fun driving the cars!! The track is really long too, much longer than MK. It is really fun!

So after driving the cars, we were going to queue up for the Finding Nemo Submarine Adventure which is FPless, crazy!! The wait was about an hour, but we'd never done it and it was new so we were going to wait. But then something caught our eyes and ears...the Jedi Training Academy was getting ready to start!! The boys were way more interested in that so we went over to wait for it to start

The Jedi came out and started to "feel the force" with the kids". Mine were jumping up and down and waving their hands and BOTH of them got chosen! How cool!!

Just as the Jedi were teaching the younglings their routine...there was a disturbance in the force!! The Jedi pulled the younglings aside as Storm Troopers raced down the aisle!!

"This area is secure", they said. What on earth was happening? Then the stage began to lift:

My goodness, intruders from the dark side!!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

I really would have thought that the size and realistic costumes of these CMs would have scared off some kids...but not so! Each one got a chance to "fight" either Darth Vader or Darth Maul

Samuel with Darth Vader(Darth Maul gets in the way a bit)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zt0iUJ5v1zQ

Caleb did awesome with Darth Maul
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EsBrRsz-A8w

Of course Darth Vader was all about saying he would complete the younglings training if they would join him in the dark side but none would have it. They all resisted and the force with all of them was too strong so he had to leave

Graduation!

 

[TakeMeThere81]

After this it was lunchtime and we were all hungry!! So we headed over toward Fantasyland to find food. It was just shoulder-to-shoulder packed in Fantasyland and the counterservice places had longer than long lines so we kept walking straight through without stopping. DH can't stand thick crowds like that, he gets clostrophobic. So we headed past It's a Small World and such and DH found this little nook, regularly Woody's Round-up, changed to Santa's Reindeer Roundup for Christmas.

We had a very nice all-you-can-eat, family-style bbq lunch, served the same way they do at the Hoop-de-Doo revue, in skillet pots and such. Yum!! I think Caleb out-ate Ben in the ribs department.

We bumped into woody!

And Jesse later as she passed by gave Aaron a quick hug

And we got to see Santa's reindeer too

 

[TakeMeThere81]

After our lovely lunch, we strolled over toward the Haunted Mansion. The Holiday Overlay really is a sight to see. It was a rediculous hour and then some wait so we grabbed FPs and decided to take a ride on the railroad. There were so many people there at this point and it was quite cold even for mid-day. But we just took it slow and tried not to let it bother us. We love the Disneyland Railroad.

Sights along the way

It passes right along the outdoor queue area of It's a Small World

Once we got to Main Street, the Christmas parade was getting ready to start. In keeping with the relaxed pace we'd taken on since lunch, we sat down up on the train station and got a seat.

These guys were so cool! They were realy playing those horns

Mickey and Minnie skated along this float. It was cute to see them together in a parade

Goofy's Candy House!

And this was Chip n Dale...the car they were driving was like a large golf cart vehicle. They'd drive it all fast and out of control then screech on the breaks! It was funny. Silly chipmunks

 

[TakeMeThere81]

We saw Woody a lot this trip!

And Santa was the grande finale float

We'd never seen a Disney holiday parade before and this one really was awesome!! A winner in our books.

Then we hopped back on the train to go back to the Haunted Mansion

View of the entrance...and sample of people

The Mansion is so huge it is really hard to get a decent picture...and there were so many people!!

This was the first time we took our kids on the Haunted Mansion

I loved the holiday transformation with Jack Skellington. I'm not much of a Tim Burton fan, his stuff creeps me out. But it actually made the Haunted Mansion experience much friendlier. Aaron kept saying...Merry Christmas, Scary Christmas...Instead of singing busts, they were singing pumpkin heads, and in the ballroom scene there was all sorts of floating holiday happenings...and they piped gingerbread smell out to you which was the coolest!

So at this point the crowds were incomparable and if we had another day we would have left for a break. It really was insane. You could only walk at snails' pace from here to there because there were people everywhere. We headed over to Critter Country to see if we could pick up FPs for Splash Mountain. We'd heard on the Railroad that they'd "turned down the splash" since it was so cold. We were going to find out!

So we grabbed our FPs for Splash and went to find that Winnie the Pooh was only a 15 minute wait! Score! I love the DL queue for Winnie the Pooh. It starts outside and has friendly music...much more scenic than MK

 

[TakeMeThere81]

A few scenic shots I had gotten along the pathway

The Sailing Ship Columbia

After Pooh, we headed over to Tom Sawyer Island. At Disneyland, Tom Sawyer Island has a Pirates of the Caribbean themed area called The Pirate's Lair...we thought we'd check it out and let the kids play!

Not very many of my pictures turned out. The horribly overcast and bright sky was killing my photos.

The Bone Cage!!

Another shot of the Sailing Ship Columbia. It docked and got out of the way for the Princess and the Frog show coming up. You can also see the Canoes in this one...we didn't get to go on them though. There's a million things to do at Disneyland!

Great View of Splash Mountain from TSI

 

[TakeMeThere81]

On our way back to the Mainland, Tiana's Jubilee was going on. There were A LOT of people there!

Next we went over to use our Splash FPs. They did turn down the splash. It was a great ride!! Much longer ride at DL also.

The loading dock, Splash Mountain

Zip-a-dee-doo-dah
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-kO0ay5iWQ

At this point it was dark!

Next we went back to Adventureland so DH could go on Indiana Jones with his child swap. He took Caleb and I hung out with the younger boys. As we were squeezing our way through the crowd, I noticed that the wait time for Jungle Cruise was only 15 minutes!! Score! I couldn't believe we found 2 rides with 15 min. wait times. I radioed DH and he said go ahead, don't wait for him, so I took the younger boys. Our last night ride on the JC(May, 2009) was pathetic. The skipper left the light on inside the boat and nothing was lit along the river so it was pretty stupid. This ride was awesome though!! They've refurbed it and there were lots of little surprises. They didn't have the temple scene so it was a shorter...but still...great ride!

After that, I mosey-ed on over to the Enchanted Tiki Room(NOT under new management which I appreciated). DH and I chose to meet there once he was done with Indy. Out front I grabbed a Dole Whip:sohappy: which I could probably eat a half gallon of by myself-they are soooooo good! The kids and I hung out in the courtyard checking out the tiki statues and enjoying our pineapple Dole Whip(even though it was cold out!). DH met us and bought his own Dole Whip, and we went in to enjoy the Tiki Room. We had a great crowd! I tried to video but was too slow...but we had a really nice crowd and everyone responded to the birds' prompts and sang on cue. That really makes the show. I appreciated the classic version of the show as opposed to the updated "Under New Management" version at the MK(Blah)

After the Tiki Room, we realized we hadn't done any of Fantasyland or Toontown so we headed that direction. Basically we looked for rides with low wait times, and first on our list...Mr Toad's Wild Ride!!

 

[Laura]

Wow you take pictures of EVERYTHING don't you! :lol: Very cool. There's so many things I see while I'm there that I don't ever think to photograph, so you gave me some ideas.

Also, love the parade vantage from the train station.

You said the overcast sky was killing your pictures....all you need to do in that situation is set the white balance on your camera to "cloudy" and they'll come out looking fine.

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Next we went to Pinocchio's Daring Journey

DH and I were cracking jokes about the morals beind the classic Disney movies...such that would not go over in today's society. Mr. Toad's Wild Ride literally spits you out in hell at the end and Pinocchio's includes the lesson that you should never "Make an ______ out of yourself..."

Next we really wanted to hit up It's a Small World but the wait was well over an hour...

The holiday lights were just breathtaking. Wow, they were amazing.

Peter Pan's Flight, Dumbo, were just so long!! We checked Nemo's Submarine Adventure again and it was even longer...an hour and a half. The kids were getting tired and I started to see the realization that our day may be coming to and end with how tired everyone(except me-miraculously!).

We did hit up Star Tours as a last ride...I was hoping it would excite and re-energize the kids. I really wanted to stay for holiday fireworks.

I love the Star Wars area at DHS. There isn't anything really like that here at DL, but is is appropriately placed in Tomorrowland so it works well here too!

Star Tours Queue, C3PO and R2-D2
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Jqf4J3jq64

More Star Tours Queue
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ndq1xwXAYaI

 

[TakeMeThere81]

After we rode Star Tours, we went over to the Tomorrowland Terrace to get some dinner. I had a scrumptious veggie burger and the kids had burgers and chicken fingers, DH had a great cheeseburger. But they could barely stay awake...sadly I accepted the fact that it was time to take them home.

DH high-fived that we wore them out and outlasted them. :lol:

I didn't get any breathtaking castle photos, but I did my best. There were so many people there...

Main Street on our way out

 

[TakeMeThere81]

Recap: Our quick tour of DLR

Well, we didn't really explore Downtown Disney at DLR, and I know we missed plenty of attractions at Disneyland. It is a 2-day park. But we had a great time nonetheless.

California Adventure is getting better and better. I can't wait to hear about World of Color and see what they come up with in the new Little Mermaid ride and Car's Land. It's exciting to see all these new attractions!

Disneyland was wonderful. The cold I think put a bit of a damper on the day that we just tried our best to ignore. The people did too...it was just rediculously packed out. On a scale of 1-10, 10 being they stop letting people in because of fire code, the park was at a 9. It was just sooo busy. I know we'd enjoy it more if there was more space and less crowds. I loved all the DL exclusive treats such as New Orleans Square, Pirate's Lair, the Canoes, Sailing Ship Columbia, the classic Tiki Room, and so much more. Disneyland has all the nastalgia that Walt imagined it would...especially realizing he was there, and he walked through the park himself.

Overall however, I have to say going there made me miss WDW. The resorts and the extensive monorail system and spread out property of WDW is all part of the experience that makes WDW a getaway for us. I didn't feel like at DLR we got very far away...the city road was right there. The WDW resorts(although we've never stayed at one), are a huge part of our Disney experience. The dining and the theming at each resort are just a part of our Disney vacations as the parks themselves. Because there is limited ground space at DLR, it feels like they have packed a whole bunch of stuff into a small space, and it felt cramped. I love the wide open spaces of WDW.

So...with that being said, I'm vacation searching for a trip to WDW. I hate that we have to buy plane tickets for all of us now...but I know it will be worth it when we do it. See you real soon!! :wave:

 

[nemofinder22]

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

Did you notice the hidden mickey( actual Mickey not a silhouette) in this photo?

Anyways thanks for sharing a fantastic trip report! Sucks about the crowds, but hey you got to DL and at Christmas time! IMO one of the best times of the year.

 

[sleepybear]

Thanks for the great report and pictures! (I second Holly about the one of Goofy with the whole family. Totally frame worthy.) But it was kind of disheartening to see that CA still looked like it did when I was there in April -- all construction walls and drained lake. But it's all for the eventual betterment of the park. (I hope.)