Okay, I was torn! I wasn’t sure this short little solo trip was worth a report! Then I ended up with some time on my hands and decided I could do a quick one. I didn’t take a single note, so this is all off memory and photos!
And when I say photos, I mean a gazillion photos. This was a photo trip and I took close to 2000. It is taking me forever to process them all. So while this was a short trip and I finished the text quickly, it may take a while to get it all up because of the photos.
Who: Well just me!! A solo trip was something new for me. I’ve done several trips without my family – travel agent education trips, cheap last minute girl’s cruises, etc. But all by my lonesome? Never! Here I am!
But the truth was, I needed to go and no one else could get away with me kind of last minute. I’ve been a Disneyland blog contributor for Touringplans.com lately and I haven’t been since February! I was starting to feel out of touch with my beloved Disneyland. I was also running out of pictures!!
That was another reason I hesitated to bring a friend. My primary goal was to check on some things and take a gazillion pictures. Rides weren’t even on my radar – much.
I knew I probably wouldn’t be the most fun traveling companion with these goals, so solo it was!
It was also much cheaper that way. One plane ticket with hubby’s frequent flyer miles, one comp ticket, and a military discount on a room. Score!
Disneyland during the holidays is really something else. In my opinion, they put WDW’s decorations to shame. The decorations at Disneyland are so extensive it’s amazing, but it’s a lot more than that! The special snacks and desserts, the live reindeer at Santa’s ranch, the snow on Main Street, and the list goes on. The ride overlays of Haunted Mansion and Small World are worth the trip alone. Disneyland doesn't just throw some garland on the rides. They overlays are extensive to say the least. It’s really something every Disney fan should experience at least once.
My parents flew in to take over my main job, while my hubby brings home the bacon, driving the kids back and forth to school and various youth group activities, sports practices and games. My almost 17 year old still does not have his driver’s license. It’s a mixture of a few things. One, the most surprising for us, is the lack of excitement about it. When we turned 15 we went that very day to start the process! Today it seems like ds and his friends just don’t care much. Probably because they’ve still got their mom to drive them everywhere. :lookaroun There’s also been a big problem getting Virginia to accept his Colorado permit and Drivers Ed which we paid $800 for, 32 hours in a classroom and spent over 40 hours behind the wheel. Virginia is insisting he needs to take their Drivers Ed for $300, 36 more classroom hours and spend 40 more training hours behind the wheel. Um. No. Don’t have time and not worth it. The third reason is my complete terror of my son driving in DC. I mean, it’s crazy here. There are no quiet back roads. Everywhere we go is on a major highway or interstate that is packed from 5 am to around midnight. I’m in no hurry for him to be driving around on his own here. No hurry at all.
Sorry, back to the trip report. Dad and Mom came to take over for me and I was off!
Saturday, November 12 – Departure Day
I didn’t want to leave to early so I could spend a little time with Dad and Mom. They came in late Thursday night so we did get to spend Friday exploring DC together. My flight didn’t leave until noon. I crammed everything into a carry on so I wouldn’t have to pay the accursed bag fees.
Once we got to the airport, I made a horrible mistake. I had a few books on my kindle app on the ipad that I had saved up to read on all the upcoming trips. I don’t let myself read much, unless I’m traveling, for one reason. I get completely obsessed with books. I mean I can not put them down. When I start a good one, I will stay up until all hours of the night so I can finish it. So when I picked a book to start, let’s just say I chose poorly.
Dd had read The Hunger Games series on her kindle several months ago. I didn’t do much checking before she bought it, just because I’d heard so many good reviews. At one point we asked her what it was about. When she told us it was about teenagers who had to fight to the death as a sacrifice for their community - - I was feeling serious parent guilt! Oh my word! Should she have read that? Should I have read them before I let her?
Well I didn’t and was finally getting around to it now. I thought it would be a quick read and I could get it over with so I’d enjoy the movie more when it was released.
Oh. My. Word.
That book was so incredibly totally awesome. I could NOT put it down!! That’s not a way to start a Disney trip!! I had a lot to do and I didn’t want anything else competing for my attention at Disneyland, but I knew this book series was going to.
That’s a crazy long flight from Dulles to LAX. I mean crazy long. Like 6 hours? The movie was Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which I’d seen before. I really enjoyed it the first time, but was I going to put down Hunger Games to watch it? No way!
I was actually a little sad when the plane landed. When my plane landed at Disney, I was a little sad. How many kinds of wrong is that?
I did force myself to put it down and deplaned with everyone else. I lucked out, there was a Disneyland Express Shuttle waiting and I got right on.
The front of the resort is a wreck right now. The bus couldn’t even get up next to the resort to drop us off. We literally had to drag our bags, in the rain, through a parking lot to get to an entrance. Since I had tons of camera equipment and everything for 3 nights crammed into my backpack and rolling bag, this was no easy task.
The entrance wasn’t easy to find either! Another couple had been dropped off with me and we ended up going in a side entrance near the convention center. I was a little turned around but I knew we hadn’t come in near the lobby. I asked someone who was setting up for a convention if she happened to know where the lobby was. She acted completely offended that I had asked her. She said, "I don’t work here!" Alright. Thanks! :shrug:
We finally went out of the building and I recognized where we were. I told the other couple to follow me and we made our way to the check in desks.
I have had a few instances at the Disneyland Hotel where dragging suitcases from the back of the parking lot to the far away room was sheer torture and I was ready to slap my grandma by the time we found our room. This was one of those times. I needed to refind some Disney cheer when I got to my room.
My first reaction was – shoot. I’m alone! This is kind of sad. My second was, it’s okay! It’s Disney!
The redone rooms at the Disneyland Hotel are really beautiful. The headboard is – dare I say it – just magical. When you turn it on, the fireworks light up and music plays. I loved it. I wanted to sleep with it on every night.
One slight benefit to being alone – no one to mess up the room before you can take pictures!
And when I say photos, I mean a gazillion photos. This was a photo trip and I took close to 2000. It is taking me forever to process them all. So while this was a short trip and I finished the text quickly, it may take a while to get it all up because of the photos.
Who: Well just me!! A solo trip was something new for me. I’ve done several trips without my family – travel agent education trips, cheap last minute girl’s cruises, etc. But all by my lonesome? Never! Here I am!
But the truth was, I needed to go and no one else could get away with me kind of last minute. I’ve been a Disneyland blog contributor for Touringplans.com lately and I haven’t been since February! I was starting to feel out of touch with my beloved Disneyland. I was also running out of pictures!!
That was another reason I hesitated to bring a friend. My primary goal was to check on some things and take a gazillion pictures. Rides weren’t even on my radar – much.
I knew I probably wouldn’t be the most fun traveling companion with these goals, so solo it was!It was also much cheaper that way. One plane ticket with hubby’s frequent flyer miles, one comp ticket, and a military discount on a room. Score!
Disneyland during the holidays is really something else. In my opinion, they put WDW’s decorations to shame. The decorations at Disneyland are so extensive it’s amazing, but it’s a lot more than that! The special snacks and desserts, the live reindeer at Santa’s ranch, the snow on Main Street, and the list goes on. The ride overlays of Haunted Mansion and Small World are worth the trip alone. Disneyland doesn't just throw some garland on the rides. They overlays are extensive to say the least. It’s really something every Disney fan should experience at least once.
My parents flew in to take over my main job, while my hubby brings home the bacon, driving the kids back and forth to school and various youth group activities, sports practices and games. My almost 17 year old still does not have his driver’s license. It’s a mixture of a few things. One, the most surprising for us, is the lack of excitement about it. When we turned 15 we went that very day to start the process! Today it seems like ds and his friends just don’t care much. Probably because they’ve still got their mom to drive them everywhere. :lookaroun There’s also been a big problem getting Virginia to accept his Colorado permit and Drivers Ed which we paid $800 for, 32 hours in a classroom and spent over 40 hours behind the wheel. Virginia is insisting he needs to take their Drivers Ed for $300, 36 more classroom hours and spend 40 more training hours behind the wheel. Um. No. Don’t have time and not worth it. The third reason is my complete terror of my son driving in DC. I mean, it’s crazy here. There are no quiet back roads. Everywhere we go is on a major highway or interstate that is packed from 5 am to around midnight. I’m in no hurry for him to be driving around on his own here. No hurry at all.
Sorry, back to the trip report. Dad and Mom came to take over for me and I was off!
Saturday, November 12 – Departure Day
I didn’t want to leave to early so I could spend a little time with Dad and Mom. They came in late Thursday night so we did get to spend Friday exploring DC together. My flight didn’t leave until noon. I crammed everything into a carry on so I wouldn’t have to pay the accursed bag fees.
Once we got to the airport, I made a horrible mistake. I had a few books on my kindle app on the ipad that I had saved up to read on all the upcoming trips. I don’t let myself read much, unless I’m traveling, for one reason. I get completely obsessed with books. I mean I can not put them down. When I start a good one, I will stay up until all hours of the night so I can finish it. So when I picked a book to start, let’s just say I chose poorly.
Dd had read The Hunger Games series on her kindle several months ago. I didn’t do much checking before she bought it, just because I’d heard so many good reviews. At one point we asked her what it was about. When she told us it was about teenagers who had to fight to the death as a sacrifice for their community -
- I was feeling serious parent guilt! Oh my word! Should she have read that? Should I have read them before I let her?Well I didn’t and was finally getting around to it now. I thought it would be a quick read and I could get it over with so I’d enjoy the movie more when it was released.
Oh. My. Word.
That book was so incredibly totally awesome. I could NOT put it down!! That’s not a way to start a Disney trip!! I had a lot to do and I didn’t want anything else competing for my attention at Disneyland, but I knew this book series was going to.
That’s a crazy long flight from Dulles to LAX. I mean crazy long. Like 6 hours? The movie was Rise of the Planet of the Apes, which I’d seen before. I really enjoyed it the first time, but was I going to put down Hunger Games to watch it? No way!
I was actually a little sad when the plane landed. When my plane landed at Disney, I was a little sad. How many kinds of wrong is that?
I did force myself to put it down and deplaned with everyone else. I lucked out, there was a Disneyland Express Shuttle waiting and I got right on.
The front of the resort is a wreck right now. The bus couldn’t even get up next to the resort to drop us off. We literally had to drag our bags, in the rain, through a parking lot to get to an entrance. Since I had tons of camera equipment and everything for 3 nights crammed into my backpack and rolling bag, this was no easy task.
The entrance wasn’t easy to find either! Another couple had been dropped off with me and we ended up going in a side entrance near the convention center. I was a little turned around but I knew we hadn’t come in near the lobby. I asked someone who was setting up for a convention if she happened to know where the lobby was. She acted completely offended that I had asked her. She said, "I don’t work here!" Alright. Thanks! :shrug:
We finally went out of the building and I recognized where we were. I told the other couple to follow me and we made our way to the check in desks.
I have had a few instances at the Disneyland Hotel where dragging suitcases from the back of the parking lot to the far away room was sheer torture and I was ready to slap my grandma by the time we found our room. This was one of those times. I needed to refind some Disney cheer when I got to my room.
My first reaction was – shoot. I’m alone! This is kind of sad. My second was, it’s okay! It’s Disney!
The redone rooms at the Disneyland Hotel are really beautiful. The headboard is – dare I say it – just magical. When you turn it on, the fireworks light up and music plays. I loved it. I wanted to sleep with it on every night.
One slight benefit to being alone – no one to mess up the room before you can take pictures!
