Trip Report, 7/21/13 to 7/23/13

[teacherlady19]

We have just returned from a three day trip to Anaheim. Though we are Southern Californians, we only go up to DLR every few years, but we always have a lot of fun when we're up there! The occasion this time was family visiting from Missouri. Of the three, only one had ever been to DLR, and that was about 30 years ago. All three had gone to WDW about 4 years ago.

Day One:

Our car was packed with luggage and five people on Sunday, departing our home near San Diego around 12:30 pm. Our intent was to stop for lunch and then check into the hotel around 3 pm. Traffic said otherwise – we ran into a big snarl around Las Pulgas Rd (exit 62) on I-5 northbound which lasted 19 miles into San Juan Capistrano. We took lunch at Carrows on Ave Pico, got back into the traffic only to find it dissipating about 3 miles up the road. Final arrival at the hotel was just before 4 pm.

Though normally we stay at Stovall's on the southwest corner of DCA, we decided to try Candy Cane Inn this year, on recommendation of a friend. We reserved two rooms a few months back, and found that the hotel was able to get the two rooms next to each other (though not adjoining). CC Inn has three types of rooms, and we took the “Standard” room which had 2 queen beds, and everything else one “needs” to sleep and clean up. There was a small refrigerator in the room. The beds were comfortable and everything was super clean; both families were happy with the choice. Best of all, they had shuttle service to the parks on the hour and half hour, and returning shuttles on the 15/45.



IMG_2239 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


IMG_2238 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

The five of us consisted of my husband, his sister, her husband, their 11-year-old daughter, and me. The 4:30 shuttle over to the park wasn't very crowded, only consisting of those with late start (us) and those who had taken a midday break and were returning to the park. Our tickets were 3-day park hoppers, from the military, and we knew that we had to use all three days or at least 3 of the tickets would have a wasted day on it. Our choice was to do a half day on Sunday.



IMG_1965 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


The castmember at the Disneyland gate took our 5 vouchers, scrutinized my husband's retired military ID, and exchanged all 5 papers for a “real ticket”. One thanked my husband for his service. The other told us we'd get our picture taken the next time we came through a gate.

Of course there was the requisite photo of the family in front of the Mickey flowers and the train station, then off we went through the underpass, and there was Main Street and the Castle!


IMG_1970 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

We stopped along the way to watch the Dapper Dans...


IMG_1976 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

….and see the windows in Main Street, including the one in Walt's apartment that is always lit, above the fire station.

Our first venture was into Tomorrowland. (Trying to get the family to go another direction besides the one everyone goes, was impossible at this point.) The wait at Space Mountain was around 35 minutes, so we did that first, because fast past return time was at 8 pm. While standing in line for Space, I looked around and saw the sad state of Tomorrowland. Some of the peeling paint was in areas that probably only regulars look, but a bigger problem was in the abandoned rides.


IMG_1982 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

Next stop was the Astro Blasters, as Star Tours had a longer line than Space Mountain and no one wanted to wait in a long line at that point.


IMG_2002 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

Trying to get to Fantasyland was an adventure in itself. By this time, the parade had begun and trying to move around the park was tough.


IMG_2019 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

Walking through the Castle after the parade finally went by that area, we did the Castle walk-through. BTW, yes, it was very overcast on Sunday, and fairly cool!


IMG_2037 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


We had finally gotten to the Matterhorn JUST as the parade was going by that area, so we jumped in line before it got obnoxious – five minute wait. I like the new sleds, it's definitely the track that is bumpy. Only my husband and I, and our niece, rode, as my SIL has back issues. When I told her about the ride being jerky and bumpy, she declined to ride, and her daughter told her later that it was a good decision.

The three of them couldn't believe the differences in the facade for Its a Small World. As they had only been to WDW, and my SIL didn't remember much of DL from her teen days, it was an eye-opener. My husband groaned when I suggested we ride IASM, but we all went in. There were so many new things! I don't think we'd ridden that in years!


IMG_2062 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


IMG_2104 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


Deciding to move to the other side of the park, we waited at the Toontown Station. Unfortunately, we had to wait for the 2nd train as the first one was FULL and there were lots of people waiting at the station. Our family members enjoyed the Grand Canyon and the dinosaur dioramas, since WDW does not have those.



IMG_2131 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


In Frontierland and New Orleans Square, we opted to put off several things until the following day, but we did go into Pirates of the Caribbean since it was a short wait (10 minutes or less). People were queuing up on the sidewalks for Fantasmic and that's usually a good time to get in a ride or two. I tried my hand at photography inside POTC, but failed miserably this time around.


IMG_2150 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

The five of us made our way down to Main Street, finding a place to wait for the fireworks, about 8:45. It had already been packed around the waters of America for Fantasmic, so we figured we'd try that again the next night. But fireworks were “not to be missed.” Personally, I enjoyed “Magical”, and tried my hand at fireworks photography. Thankfully, I was a bit more successful with those than with Pirates!



IMG_2194 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

Our shuttle station was on the east side of the park at one of the farthest spots, #13. We arrived back at our motel around 10:30 pm.


Donna

 

[Zman-ks]

Great TR!

 

[spectromagic04]

Awesome trip report!

 

[Californian Elitist]

Thanks for posting, Donna!

 

[teacherlady19]

Day Two:

The five of us were up earlier, and the other three that were planning to join us were up even earlier, as they were driving up from San Diego that morning. Our group caught the 7:30 am shuttle, and the others met us just as the gates to DL were opening. We had to connect outside the park in the Quad, because we had the tickets for the other two. One of my concerns had been for those tickets. It wasn't until after we'd purchased 5 tickets for us and my SIL's family, and then two more later for my daughter and her husband, that I realized we were only supposed to buy 6 of those military tickets. Well, we had no problem. They exchanged those 2 vouchers for 2 tickets, and took photos of the rest of us.

Our first stop was Space Mountain, only to find it wasn't open yet and they had no idea when it would be. We went back to Star Tours, which had a 5 minute wait. After we rode and grabbed a baby swap card, while our daughter and her husband were riding, I walked back to the restroom and saw that Space was open. So as soon as we were done at Star Tours, we did the same thing over at Space Mountain. My niece ended up riding Space 3x while we were there due to baby swap, until one castmember said that only 2 were supposed to come in on a baby swap. From then on, we ensured that we had fast passes for all even if the baby-swap card holders didn't use them, because then my niece could get an extra ride.

We went to Astro Blasters again. The night before, I didn't even play and shoot targets – I only shot photos. So this time, I tried shooting the targets and did pretty well. Our grandson could ride this.

Over to Captain EO we went. We were thinking a comfortable theater, nostalgia for my husband and I, and still new for the rest. However, they had a big problem with it: NO SOUND. We had to leave. In my 46 year history of seeing the park, this is the first time I ever had to leave an attraction because it didn't work. Disappointing!

Walking over to Adventureland and New Orleans Square, our decision was to do Haunted Mansion first. There was no line to speak of – we walked right into the stretching room.


IMG_2251 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


IMG_2254 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


Pirates of the Caribbean had no wait to speak of, either, and the baby could ride. He rode in his mama's Baby Bjorn, a baby front-pack. I was SO glad that I'd put the camera into the waterproof sack I'd brought along. I wasn't going to take photos anyway, as the photos I took the night before didn't turn out. When we were upfront in the boat, I knew we were gonna get wet, and I needed to protect my Canon.

We had gotten fast passes for Indiana Jones when we arrived at Adventureland, and by the time we finished HM and POTC, it was time for our Indy passes. Five of us rode, and the other two waited with the baby.


IMG_2266 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

Unfortunately, the baby swap pass had to wait, as did many people with fast passes, as the ride went down for some reason. Of course they honored all FP and BSP's when the ride came up, so our daughter and SIL didn't ride until after lunch. We had lunch at River Belle Terrace, though my husband walked over to NOS and grabbed a sourdough bowl of clam chowder. I had the BBQ beef sandwich, beans and cole slaw (which I didn't care for). My husband also handed me the “plug” from the sourdough bread bowl, as he knows I love sourdough and he does not.

The weather was sunnier on the second day, but not until around 10 am-ish. It also got warmer because of it. Somewhere along the way, we stopped to listen to this group for a short time:


IMG_2256 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


After lunch, we went to the Enchanted Tiki Room. I was way too full from lunch to stand in the Dole Whip line on either side of the vending stand. Now, like IASW, I love the old Tiki show. Once again, though, only a few of my photos turned out. (I need to learn how to do available light like that with my camera.)



IMG_2276 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


IMG_2290 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

At this point, we took a break from the park, catching the shuttle back to the hotel where we enjoyed the pool, hot tub, and a short nap.

(I will post the second half of Day Two, and Day Three, later.)


Donna

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

Sounds like a fun trip. Makes me miss DL!

 

[atsolomon]

Hi Donna,

Great trip report. I looked at the exif data on your flickr page. You've got a Canon T3i, which should enable you to shoot on dark rides if you want. Use the manual mode to set the shutter speed, aperture, and iso. For instance, here's a photo I shot on the Monsters Inc dark ride in DCA: http://www.flickr.com/photos/atsolo/9000978159/meta/ That's a link right to the exif data so you can see the settings I used with my T1i & the same kit lens as you.

It was shot with the kit lens, with a shutter speed of 1/80th of a second (prevents blur), an F-stop (that's aperture) of f/3.5 (that's as large as the kit lens will go smaller number = bigger aperture), and an iso of 3200 (very sensitive to light). Here's a link to the full sized photo: http://www.flickr.com/photos/atsolo/9000978159/

Monsters is an easy ride to shoot on, so maybe I'm cheating a bit. ;-) But the key is to use as fast a shutter speed as you can to prevent blur from motion while still getting enough light to get a good photo.

I'm sure better photographers than me can give you better advice, but this should point you in a good direction.

Looking forward to reading more of your trip report.

Regards,

Adam

 

[teacherlady19]

Day Two, second half:


Meanwhile, while we were enjoying a dip in the pool and a little nap, our daughter, son-in-law and grandson were tooling about Fantasyland on their own. Our grandson, 6 months old, was too young and small to ride some of the better rides. So they took him into Fantasyland to introduce him to Peter Pan (20 minute wait time), Snow White's Scary Adventures, and Alice in Wonderland. The latter two had almost NO wait. While in the lines, our grandson would grin at anyone who smiled at him. He was riding in the Baby Bjorn, facing forward. I gather that he laughed most of the way through the Snow White and Alice rides, because he has no notion yet of fear.

When we returned to the park, we hopped onto the train headed for the New Orleans Square station.


IMG_2309 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


IMG_2312 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

Once we deposited ourselves in the Adventureland area, we wandered about that land, Frontierland, and New Orleans Square. Jungle Cruise had a 40 minute wait, Splash Mountain had a 60 minute wait (it turned out to be a really warm day), but we grabbed some fast passes for it. Our FP time for that was 10 pm to 11 pm, so we weren't sure if we'd actually use them. In the meantime, the two men went up into Tarzan's Treehouse with my niece, but honestly I think the men had more fun up there than she did! We debated getting on the Mark Twain, but it was on its last trip of the day.


IMG_2313 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


IMG_2316 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

At 6:30, we went up to Blue Bayou to check in for our reservation. I'd made this reservation when the 60 day window opened up, requesting a waterfront table for 7. I knew we'd have to request the waterfront table when we got there, so we did, but then they told us it would be an hour and a half to two hour wait for a waterfront table! After some wheeling and dealing, we split the group into two, and we each were at a waterfront table before 7 pm. But they weren't next to each other. One table (us) was right next to the kitchen, so all we could hear was the clatter of dishware. Eventually the table between us and the other half of our party was vacated. We asked if we could move our table to where the vacated one was, so that we could be close to the other half of our party. The server was more than happy to accommodate!

Two members of the family had the salmon and declared it to be really good. Two members had surf-n-turf, and I know my husband really enjoyed his. Two of us had filet mignon that was very tender. The last member had an adult portion of the kids macaroni and cheese, since she was 11 and didn't qualify for the kids' menu. The grandson enjoyed smacking on his baby squash and oatmeal.


IMG_2334 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


IMG_2336 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


We finished up dinner right around 8 pm, as people were queuing up for Fantasmic. Well, those who hadn't stacked out a space at 5 pm were, anyway! The castmember assigned to keeping people from taking a short cut through the roped off sections was having quite a time with that – people kept ignoring her. Since the 4 of us were in the front of our section, we tried to help out, but people were rude and cut in anyway. I admit to purposely stepping on the foot of someone who did that, too. I was a little surprised that the CM's didn't stop foot traffic in front of us during the show, like they do during parades. But even more aggravating were the parents who put their children up on their shoulders right in front of us. So much for being able to see. My SIL gave up and took her daughter to the bathroom; the rest of us waited until just before Fantasmic ended, to leave.



IMG_2355 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


IMG_2365 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


But wait … we still weren't done for the day! My niece REALLY wanted to ride Splash Mountain, and we weren't planning to come back over to DL the next day. We had the fast passes, but when we got there at 9:30, there was a 10 minute wait without FP's. So the two men and young girl rode – my SIL and I stayed on a bench and chatted, staying dry. When the three got back, they weren't very wet. ++

At 9:50, we realized that we were done for the day, and it was either make the 10:15 shuttle or wait for 10:45. We waited a short time for the train, but realized that it was going every 15 minutes now and one had just left. So we trotted – made it from the northwest corner of the park out to Shuttle Stop #13 in 14 minutes, and made that 10:15 shuttle!


Donna

 

[Cosmic Commando]

Another tip that seems to help me when I try to shoot dark rides with my point-and-shoot: try to photograph something when you're moving towards it or away from it, not when you're going past it.

Also, bring a backpack that you can throw out of the ride vehicle to cause the ride to break down... motion blur solved!

 

[teacherlady19]

I appreciate the tips about photography inside the attractions. I am still learning about our camera, as we've only had it for a year and haven't had the opportunity to try photographing a moving target. I know I need to learn how to control the shutter speed.


Donna

 

[teacherlady19]

Day Three: California Adventure!


No doubt about it, all of us were excited about California Adventure. Thanks to this forum, and one other, I knew about a lot of the changes that have taken place in DCA since our last visit in Nov. 2008, and I had shared them with my husband and daughter. Five of us caught the 7:30 am shuttle, crossed through the gates at DCA, and immediately headed for the Fast Pass Line for RSR. (THANKS for the warning!) Of course rope drop had not occurred, and our place in line was just west of the Disney Junior theater. While standing in line, I chose to look at my guide map.


IMG_2377 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

At 8:00, the line started to move, and it rarely stopped. I was able to snap a photo or two while in line, but usually I was trying to keep up. There was only one problem: my husband had left his park ticket in the shorts he wore the day before, and he had to run back to the shuttle. Believe it or not, he caught the shuttle before it left, and was back by 8:10. But by then, we'd been through the fast pass line and of course did not have his ticket to get him one. More on this later.


IMG_2379 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

We headed toward Paradise Pier, stopping to take a photo here and there. A Disney photo-pass photographer offered to take our photo so that I could get in it. As you can see, at this point there were only five of us. The new family was still checking out of their hotel, packing up the car, as they were heading back to San Diego at the end of the day.


IMG_2386 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


IMG_2387 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

Arriving on Paradise Pier, California Screamin' was a walk-up, so everyone rode except me and my BIL. (He was still hurting from the evening Splash down at Splash Mountain.) When they got off, they immediately jumped back in line to ride it again. My niece thought that was the BEST ride.


IMG_2390 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

Next, four of us rode Mickey's Fun Wheel. My husband took our niece on one of the non-stationary cars, while my Sis-in-law and I rode a stationary car. To take photos, I had to move my camera on manual, because it wanted to focus on the cage wire on the car!


IMG_2391 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


IMG_2394 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

My niece got her face painted on the Pier while we were waiting for the younger members to arrive. When they arrived, two things happened. First, I took care of the baby while all of the rest of them went on California Screamin'. It was a 15-minute wait by then, and of course, my husband always has to request a front car, which makes the wait a little longer. When they were done, my daughter and her husband took the baby on King Triton's Carousel.


IMG_2412 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

Off we went to CarsLand, since it was getting close to our fast pass time. Disney has out-done itself with this land. It was SO COOL! Of course, we are avid road-trippers, and I've had the pleasure of riding down US-66 in Illinois and other spots, before it was decommissioned. I ended up buying a Cars sippy cup for my grandson, since he is getting close to the age for that.


IMG_2419 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


IMG_2425 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


It was our Fast Pass time for the Racers: 10:00 am. We were wondering what we were going to do about my husband, since he didn't have a fast pass. I was thinking about sending him with the rest of the party through the fast pass line, and I'd go single rider. However, here's where a CM did us a BIG favor that she did not have to do: we went 2-fer on one fast pass. The five of went in the fast pass line, but the other three were sent one direction and we were sent another (maybe because of the FP 2-fer?). My husband and I loaded in the single-riders area, while the other three went in the fast pass area. We got on first.


IMG_2429 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

I really kicked myself: when we were in the car and seatbelted in, I discovered that I had locked the seatbelt over the camera strap, and unless I became a contortionist (not likely), I wasn't going to be able to free that camera. The good news was that I could ride without worrying about the camera, but when I saw all the great audio-animatronics in the dark part of the ride, I was so mad at myself! These are what I got after the ride.


IMG_2430 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


IMG_2433 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

Yes, it was that foggy. The marine layer had not completely burned off yet. I didn't put my filter on the camera, shame on me!


IMG_2435 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

What an incredible ride. RSR was definitely up there in the upper levels of E-ticket ride. Great audio-animatronics, wonderful scenes, FUN. When the five of us all reconvened at the end of the ride, we went up to Flo's and had a drink while the young parents went to ride. They too were sent over to the single-riders loading zone, because they were a party of two.


IMG_2426 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

 

[teacherlady19]

The next place to stop was on Hollywood Blvd. My husband really wanted a hot dog (and it was National Hot Dog Day, though we didn't know it at the time), and I knew about the hot dog stand up there. While we enjoyed our expensive hot dogs ($6.29 and you couldn't buy one without the chips or apple slices), the rest went into the Animation Studios. Once we were done, we sat in that lobby and watched the full round of clips from Disney animated movies. My husband and I played “name that movie”. I knew all the old ones, he knew the newer ones that I haven't sat and completely watched yet, like “UP”.


IMG_2452 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


It was soon our Soarin' Fast Pass time, which we'd stopped by between CarsLand and Hollywood Blvd. My niece was just not so sure about that ride, and had hesitated to get a fast pass because of it. I think I convinced her, and she absolutely DID love it....so much, that she went in with the young parents when it was their turn. (They didn't need their fast passes, half the time, and usually ended up giving them to others in the party who wanted to ride again.)


IMG_2457 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

We had tried twice to get “1st visit buttons for those in our party who were first timers. Finally, we got them in a shop near Soarin'. Even the baby got one! I got an Honorary Citizen of Disneyland button, given to me when the woman found out that the park was only 11+ years old when I made my first visit.


IMG_2442 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

Stress set in for me when members of our party could not make up their minds about what they wanted to do. We headed back for Carthay Circle. BTW, that was a major improvement on Sunshine Plaza!


IMG_2448 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


IMG_2458 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


Finally we headed towards Tower of Terror, went to get fast passes and discovered that it was only a 20 minute wait. I had the baby, with my husband and brother-in-law. The rest went to ride.


IMG_2459 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr

Since it appeared we were not going to make the 5:00 showing of ALADDIN, we stopped along the way at Muppet 3D. In the pre-show area, my daughter was able to put a blanket down on the floor and let the baby stretch out a little. I'm sure, after hours in either the stroller's infant seat and in the Baby Bjorn, he was thrilled to stretch and roll around! (He doesn't crawl – yet.) But what disgusted me was the man who spilled potato chips on the floor and didn't bother to pick them up, or even make an attempt to do so!


IMG_2465 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


We watched the Pixar Play Parade for a while. The parade was fun, but it was also annoying when most of the floats had some sort of water device on them. I wasn't quick enough to hide the camera behind me on one, and it caught some of the water. Fortunately it did no damage, but I was not the only photographer in the audience with an expensive camera that shouldn't get wet!


IMG_2470 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


We made our way over to the Little Mermaid ride, which was the last ride that all 8 of us did together. Disney did a good thing with this attraction, as well. I was singing along the whole way.!


IMG_2520 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


IMG_2521 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


IMG_2525 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


At this point, our daughter and family headed for BugsLand, to take the baby on some of the children's rides there. This was another land I'd never been in at all, but this time, we walked through it several times to get somewhere else. The theming of the upside-down tissue box, inside of a cereal box, was so cute! I guess I should probably see the movie.


IMG_2461 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


We headed over to do Goofy's Sky School, but only one rode it – my niece. She went in on single rider. She said she liked Screamin' and Space Mountain much better!


Our final stop of the day was at Hyperion Theater, to see ALADDIN. My husband and I saw it a few years ago, there, but the rest of our party had not seen it. It was a 15 minute wait, and we chose Orchestra seats. The only bummer to those seats are that Aladdin and Jasmine fly overhead and you really can't see anything except under the carpet. However, I think you have a better view of facial expressions down in Orchestra. We all LOVED the show.


DL and DCA 495 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


DL and DCA 496 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


DL and DCA 498 by jeanniesisters, on Flickr


At that point, we had to make a decision. ALL of us were absolutely *exhausted*, with the exception of the 11-year-old. (The rest of us are 50+ and get easily pooped out!) We headed back to the hotel, skipping World of Color completely. I know to some of you, that's sacrilege. But after our experience with Fantasmic the day before, and seeing that folks were queued up already for WoC when we passed the area around 6, none of us wanted to do any more standing. Until I got back to the hotel that day, I had forgotten about the fast passes for the viewing area for World of Color.We'd never gotten them, because I forgot!


We caught the “shuttle” back, which was actually a 7-passenger van this time around. The regular shuttle driver went on dinner break, they usually don't get too many wanting transport to/from at 7:45, so they send a van and make 2 or 3 trips if needed.


Our dinner that night was at a pizza place on the northeast corner of Harbor Blvd and Katella. It was okay, nothing special. Just convenient.



Day Four: The drive home


Our daughter, husband and baby left the park at about 8:00 pm on Tuesday and were home before 10:00 pm. The baby slept the whole way, and then went right down in his own crib when they got home.


We, on the other hand, stayed at the hotel another night, slept in, and headed home at about 9:30 on the morning of July 24th. We got home about 11 am, with no traffic issues. We even took the time to stop at the View Point on I-5 South, on Camp Pendleton property.


All in all, it was a GREAT trip!

 

[ajrwdwgirl]

The rest of your trip sounds great! Bugs Land is really cute!

 

[merry68]

I really enjoyed your trip report!! I didn't know about the upside down tissue box.

 

[TuffyCatt]

Great trip report! I really love all your pictures! We were there at the same time - but looks like we hit the opposite parks that you guys did on each day.

 

[teacherlady19]

We had park-hoppers, but the 5 of us didn't use that feature. Our daughter and her husband did on Tuesday, and caught their castle picture with NO ONE in the background. Amazing!

 

[Californian Elitist]

Donna, I loved reading your report. It sounds like you had a great time and I'm glad you were finally able to go back!

 

[teacherlady19]

An addendum to this report: our daughter and her husband were able to use the 3rd day on the military tickets that we got for them. They went back in September, about a week before the tickets expired. (Military tickets can, and do, expire.) This time, they left the baby overnight with the other grandma (I was working), left in the wee hours of the morning and got to DL by opening. They enjoyed both parks, both were fairly light. There were no night shows that day, so they came home and picked up the baby.

The two had noticed that there was an annotation on the tickets that said they didn't have to have the military sponsor there after the first use. This made them, and us, feel so much better to know that they didn't have to waste a day's ticket to DLR/DCA.

Disney has renewed that ticket for the military, after raising its price by $4. It's now 3 days for a little more than the price of a one-day park hopper at the gate. The three days do not have to be used in succession. There ARE blackout dates, however, and most of them are during my Winter Break from work. Darn.


Donna