Hello, Everyone!

Well we're back to our little town of Hanford, and all I can say about our trip to Disneyland was that it was FANTASTIC!

We got to the Grand Californian about 3:30 on Monday after a 5 hour drive (the traffic on the 5 freeway was horrendous!).  All I can say is...this is the most beautiful hotel I've ever been in!!!  Only waited about a minute to be checked in by a very nice, friendly gentleman.  We got room 2339, which was about 3 rooms down from the elevator near the pool.  We were close to the restaurants, the pool, and the DCA entrance.  I was surprised that for the whole 4 1/2 days we were there, we never waited for an elevator.  No matter what time of day, we pushed the button and DING!  The car was there.  Very impressive!  I asked for a fridge to use (we never even peeked into the one in the room, lol...the CM who checked us in was very clear about how even moving things would result in a room charge, because everything in there is on a motion sensor!), and he said it would be delivered sometime that evening, and that we didn't have to be in the room for them to deliver it.  Turns out, it was delivered 15 minutes after we got to our room!  ALSO - he told us that EE would be Mon, Tues and Wed, NOT Thursday, because of Grad Nights going on.  I was SO glad he mentioned that, we had planned to do EE on Thursday. Our room looked out over the Grizzly Rapids part of the park, in the morning we would sit on our little balcony and drink coffee and listen to the peace and quiet.  Now I HAVE been in bigger hotel rooms, but it was perfectly adequate for the 4 of us.  We didn't spend too much time in there, anyway!  It was great having the 2 sinks and the separate vanity/sink toilet/shower arrangement.  Two of us could be brushing/flossing etc. while someone was in the shower...it worked out very well for us.  The closet was nice and big for a hotel, we stowed a lot in it!  The beds were comfy (we had 2 queens), and there were actually plenty of pillows (we always bring two of our own just in case, we've had some bad experiences in other hotels with FLAT pillows...lol).  There were extra pillows and a blanket in the top of the closet, as well as two VERY nice robes that we used a lot!  And it was SO nice to come back to the room in the evening to find the beds turned down and the cute chocolates.

We walked Downtown Disney Monday evening, and went to ESPN Zone for dinner.  There was no wait, which was amazing to me (last time we went there it was a 45 minute wait).  To get your VIP stuff you just go right into the gift shop on the right as you walk in.  The girl there was so nice and friendly.  We had a great dinner that cost half what it would have without our $20 coupons (we used them both, I just put them in the folder with my Visa when it was time to pay).  We used the $10 game cards that came with our Disney park-hopper passes, plus the 2 that came with the VIP thing...so we played games for about an hour basically for free!  Then we went to World of Disney and bought shirts and stuff.  I spent quite a bit, and the girl at the register was so sweet, she said, "do you have a Disney coupon book with a 10% discount card?"  I did, and I had forgotten about it!  So she saved me $25!  We went back to the hotel and the boys wanted to go to the pool.  FYI, the slides close at 8 PM (and the lifeguards are off duty).  The pool is open until 10, though.  My boys are older, lucky for me, because my DH and I slipped off to the bar and had a drink for about half an hour while the boys swam.  All in all, a WONDERFUL first day!

We got up bright and early Tuesday and had breakfast at the Storytellers Cafe.  The food was fabulous, and there were lots of fun characters...Chip and Dale, the girl gorilla from Tarzan (we could not remember her name for the life of us!)...there were others, but its hard for me to remember.  Now if you're looking for the "mainstream" characters that little kids will recognize, then you may be a little disappointed.  But since my boys are 11 and 15, they thought it was cool, especially the girl gorilla who kept coming by to flirt with my older son...lol...he was cracking up despite himself!  it was EXPENSIVE (over $80 for the 4 of us, not including tip), I'm not even going to lie!  But we had budgeted for it, and the food WAS outstanding (we got the buffet...looking at the menu, though, we could have gotten off cheaper ordering off of it - but the buffet looked SO good!).  Then we headed over to DL.  We were amazed by the people who are so intent on getting in first that were pushing and shoving, mostly people with strollers!  We just stood back and watched...we got in and tried to take a picture with the 50th Mickey planter, but it was just too crowded...everyone else had the same idea!  So we entered (on the left!) and went straight to Indy, then the Tiki Room (LOVED IT!  But I have to say that my sons weren't as enchanted by it as I was...but they were good sports), Mansion, Pirates, then shopped.  By 1 PM it was HOT HOT HOT!!!  There were LOTS of people there.  We went to Blue Bayou at 1:45 and got seated about 10 minutes later (I'm so glad we made reservations.  They weren't even seating people who hadn't made reservations).  Lunch was fantastic, I had my first Mint Julep (Disney Style, of course...lol) - delicious!  Our waiter was great and the food was wonderful.  I think it was worth the price (again, a little over $80 for the 4 of us - but you could get by cheaper...my husband and older son BOTH had prime rib!!!).  The bad thing about your kids being older is that they eat A LOT!  It's so much cheaper when they're little and you can get them kids' meals!  I was disappointed in the Fast Pass system this trip...we used them the whole time we were there in November, but this past 4 days every single time we tried to get them they were out/closed down.  A CM told us that they only give out so many per hour and per day, so that the Fast Pass lines stay relatively short and the Stand By riders don't wait TOO long.  Makes sense, I guess we just had bad timing.  So we stood in line for Splash Mountain for about an hour and 20 minutes, but killed the time by playing "Rock, Paper, Scissors" and having "Thumb Wars"...lol...people in line were laughing and eventually everyone around us was playing "Rock, Paper, Scissors", it was funny.  We headed over to DCA and saw Herbie in the plaza between the parks, that was cool.  Went straight to California Screamin' and got on in about 30 minutes (again, all Fast Passes GONE!).  We were all "funned out" (as we call it...lol...) by about 7:30.  So went back to our room and ordered room service for dinner.  Just a note - they charge an extra 20% to your order, plus I think a $2 "delivery" charge....so ANOTHER almost $80 dinner!  Again, though, great food and it was there in 30 minutes just like they said.

Wednesday we did the EE.  That was awesome.  There weren't that many people there at 7 AM, so we got our picture with the 50th Mickey planter that morning!  Again, there WERE people running to get to Fantasyland first, we strolled and enjoyed the peace and quiet of an uncrowded Main Street!  We rode every ride in Fantasyland by 8 AM, it was great!  And no, you can't go up in the castle anymore.  But they've re-done everything really beautifully.  Lots of places for good pix!  Went to Toon Town at 8 and used our EE passes, we had a blast even though our boys are really a little too old for Toon Town!  lol...we rode Roger Rabbit, it was SO WEIRD to board right away and not have to go through the maze of a line.  The boys (AND my husband!  ha-ha...) climbed all over everything and we took lots of fun pictures.  We rode/saw everything by 8:45 and headed to Small World.  I told my husband that we had just ridden a whole days' worth of rides in two hours!  After Small World we went to Tomorrowland Terrace and enjoyed our CHEAPEST meal yet, $30 for breakfast and it was pretty good!  Made the mistake of riding Star Tours immediately afterward, though, and didn't feel so hot when we got off!  The line for the Buzz Lightyear Astro Blasters was only a 5 minute wait, so we rode that, it was fantastic!  We had SO MUCH FUN on that ride!  That's definitely a new favorite.  Alas, no Space Mountain, though.  We saw the funniest thing....there was a talking trash can near the restrooms.  He was following a little girl around (she had a big lollipop) talking to her...it was SO funny and cute.  We watched for about 5 minutes until some mean boys started KICKING the trash can...I was appalled!  I kept looking around for their mothers, they were only about 8 or 9 years old.  Anyway, once Disneyland started getting crowded we headed to DCA.  Oh yeah - LOTS of princesses and characters all over that day!  Belle, Jafar, Captain Hook, Sneed, we saw TONS of them.  The most I've ever seen at DL.  Again not a Fast Pass to be had...we got to Tower of Terror at 10:20, the park had only been open for 20 minutes, and they were already gone FOR THE DAY!  So we didn't ride it that day.  We saw the Alladin show at the Hyperion Theater, it was really great.  Everyone enjoyed it.  We let the boys play the Boardwalk games, we rode Grizzly Rapids and by 2 PM we decided we needed to go back to the room and rest a little (it was REALLY hot).  Went back to DL about 3 PM and ate at the Carnation Cafe on Main Street.  It was so nice, they sat us at a nice shaded table and the food was great (I highly recommend the "Loaded Baked Potato Soup").  A little pricey (AGAIN!  lol...$65 before tip...but we had dessert, too), but to sit there and relax in the shade and have such a nice waitress and great food - it was worth it.  We saw the 50 Years (sorry, can't remember the whole name of the parade) parade, it was really great.  After we saw the parade we rode Big Thunder Mountain, and ended up in Fantasyland again about 8 PM.  We had really great burgers from the restaurant there, the one across from the Casey Jr. Circus Train (Village Haus, I think?).  We watched the fireworks from there, they were FANTASTIC.  I wish we could have been in front of the castle, but it was SO CROWDED!  At least where we were you could sit down.  And we had a fantastic view of Tinkerbell flying overhead...that is just such a magical sight!  We made the mistake of leaving with what - 10,000 other people? - right after the parade.  Did the "Disneyland Shuffle" trying to get out of there!  All the way through Fantasyland, Tomorrowland, Main Street and into Downtown Disney.  The smart people were sitting on the sides watching all of us idiots shuffling our way out of the park.  But we were SO tired, we just really wanted to get back to our room!  That was a LONG day, but fun.

Thursday we slept in a little, and had breakfast at the Whitewater Snack place at the hotel.  Another cheap breakfast, only $30 again!  lol....used the GC DCA entrance at 9:30 and got to ride Soarin' early....which was good because the rest of the day it was a 2 hour wait and again - NO FASTPASSES!  That big mister in front of Soarin' is great....we went by there a few times just to stand under it and cool off a little!  After we rode Soarin' we headed straight over to Tower of Tower and scored Fast Passes for 2:30 PM!  And it was only 9:45 AM!  But we were happy to have them.  The boys rode Screamin', we all rode Grizzly, we shopped and did the Zephyr (kind of a silly ride, but that breeze sure feels good when it's hot!).  We went to the kids' area across from Grizzly Rapids...that is a GREAT place.  the kids can run and play and we saw lots of toddlers running around getting some of their energy out, and lots of grateful parents sitting and watching them.  It's part nature trail, there are fire lookouts, rope bridges, a tire swing thing the kids can ride...it was a really nice change of pace from the crowded lines.  We probably spent an hour in there!  After we rode Tower of Terror, we got hot dogs and took them back to our room and had a little break.  Went to DL about 4 PM, but there were tons of 8th grade classes there having their class trips, and they were loud and obnoxious in all of the lines...not that I probably didn't do the same thing at that age, but I was tired and not in the mood!  So we went to Tom Sawyers's island for about half an hour, rode Splash Mountain one more time, then Pirates and Haunted Mansion and we were ready to go.  We picked up a "to go" dinner from The Jazz Kitchen in Downtown, it was delicous.  We ate in our room, then hubby and I went down to the bar and had a "Farewell Disney" beer...very nice waitresses and bartenders there.  We were in bed by 10, checked out at 9 AM (I like the express checkout, no stopping by the desk, just go!), and here we are HOME.  I know this was insanely long, sorry if it was too much information, but it's so HARD to keep it short!!!  Hope there's some info in this novel that will help future travellers!

Shelli

Shelli,

GREAT REPORT!!! I love all of the information you gave, especially prices, that was awesome.

In Tomorrowland, the trash can has a name.  His name is Push, and he will talk to you.

The play area you enjoyed by Grizzly is Redwood Creek Challenge Trail.  Now I bet you understand why we recommend that place for parents with young children!  Alex loves it, and many times we have seen Chip and Dale in there.

Thanks so much for posting this so quickly.  I am glad I got to read it before we leave.  I did move it if you didn't notice. lol

Glad to have you back Shelli.  We missed you!

Leanne

May All Your Days Be Filled With Magic!  And your nights full of Disney Dreams!

Shelli, I forgot to ask, did you see the fireworks at all?  If so, where did you sit? And how was the view?

Leanne

May All Your Days Be Filled With Magic!  And your nights full of Disney Dreams!

Awesome report Shelli, & welcome back !!  I'm sorry to hear that the FastPasses are already an issue......leaving Monday & was hoping this would eleviate some of the standing in lines for me (which will be a problem) but I have 3 older teens who will run their fannys off to get FastPasses if they're available for the whole group (thank god for young legs....lol).  So your view of the fireworks, did you see the castle at all (I know they change colors & visuals on the castle), just curious, sitting to watch & wait for them sounds good to me, but really want to be able to see some of the castle effects.  Sounds like an awesome trip anyways......happen to know what the hot hot hot temperatures were ???  lol

Leanne, I'll write more about the fireworks on the main page under your question....as for the heat, I have to think it was 90 degrees the first day, maybe 85 days 2 and 3.  I live in Central California where a normal summer day is over 100, so for me to think it's hot means it's HOT!  lol...got a nice little sunburn on my shoulders, I put sunscreen on the boys and forgot myself!  Sending the teenagers for the Fast Passes is an excellent idea, I'll be sure to do that next time!

Shelli, can I clarify one thing?  The day you went at 10:20 for Tower fastpasses, you were told they were gone for the day, right?  Now, didn't you go back THAT SAME DAY and were able to get fastpasses?

Let me know. 

Leanne

May All Your Days Be Filled With Magic!  And your nights full of Disney Dreams!

Hi, Leanne!

On Wednesday the Fast Passes were gone by 10:20 A.M., and we were told there would be no more that day.  Thursday we entered DCA early (9:30 A.M.) to ride Soarin'.  After we got off it we headed right over to TOT to get Fast Passes.  There was a line for them, but it went quickly, and we got passes for 2:30 P.M.  So I guess you have to be there first thing in the morning to get them! 

Hope you're having a wonderful time!

Shelli

We finally ate at Carnation Cafe today and the food is fantastic.  It's the 1st time we've been even though we've been to Disnyeland about 15 times.

We have had no problems getting fast passes although since we booked our trip through AAA we can have unlimited fastpasses so we get a bunch in the morning.

Andy