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Mickey Mouse
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 9/30/2008 11:01:39 PM
Posts: 536, Visits: 499 |
| | This was kind of a last-minute trip because my husband was bummed that he was going to miss our trip for our son's birthday later this month. So, I was like, well, who says we can't go before my hubby has to leave for training? (He's going to the field for two months.) So we left for Anaheim early Saturday morning. The traffic was pretty light so we made it down there in no time. We had lunch at McDonald's because our son got too hungry and didn't want to wait until we got to the Resort. But it was fun because he got a Happy Meal with a mini Build-A-Bear and it included a coupon for a free gift at the Build-A-Bear Workshop! Unfortunately, I completely forgot we had the coupon until after we got home. So I guess we'll have to save it for our next trip. LOL  Anyway, then we went and checked in at our hotel. We stayed at the Anaheim Hilton because we didn't want to use up the rest of our annual DVC points. But I found this great military discount for this hotel on the Hilton website. So, even with having to pay for parking, it was still less expensive to stay there than most of the other hotels we like to stay at. We got to check in early, which was great. And then we we over to the parks. When we got there, we took some time to try to get my hubby's and my son's annual passes renewed. When we bought into the DVC, they gave us vouchers to get two free annual passes. Of course, this blew the minds of the guy personing the Disney guest services window and it took forever to get the passes renewed. He renewed my hubby's pass with no problems because my hubby's pass had already expired. But he then told us that we can't renew our son's pass with the voucher until our son's pass expires. I thought that was stupid, but whatever. My son's pass expires the weekend we're going to the Resort for his birthday. I asked if we can renew it then but the guy said no because I want to renew it on Sunday and the pass doesn't expire until Monday; we have to leave Sunday because we have work and school Monday. So I find that frustrating. Anyway, we went into Disneyland and we decided to check on the Finding Nemo ride to see how long the line was. Throughout the course of the day, we checked on the line 3 times and all 3 times the line was an hour to an hour and 1/2 wait. So, we didn't bother to stand in line that long. But that was the only ride we saw that day that had such a long wait. The rest of the rides were a 15- to 25- minute wait. At one point Indiana Jones was a 35- minute wait. But it was so hot and HUMID that I'm sure a lot of people were either at the beach or at home in the A/C. The last time I remember it being that hot in Anaheim was 10 years ago. Anyway, we rode the Buzz Lightyear ride and the Star Tours ride. Then we decided to go to Adventureland and we got fast passes for the Indiana Jones ride. Then we went over to the Pirate's Lair at Tom Sawyer's Island, which was a lot of fun. Then my sister called; she drove up from San Diego to meet us; and we met up with her at the Indiana Jones ride. She got a fast pass and then we decided to see what the line was like at the Pirates ride. It was really short so we hopped in line. Then we decided we needed a snack so we went to the Tiki Room pineapple stand for pineapple whips and pineapple spears.  Then I can't remember what we did after that. But we went on the Indiana Jones ride. Then we went to dinner at the Storyteller's Cafe. We had a great dinner and one of our favorite waiters waited on us. Then we went back to Tomorrowland and we rode the Matterhorn. And then we walked through Fantasyland and went to New Orleans Square to the Haunted Mansion ride. Then we went to Critter Country and rode the Pooh ride and hung out at Pooh's Corner. Then we decided to leave the park for the night and we went to Downtown Disney to go to the Build-A-Bear Workshop. My son made a bunny, I made a Champ bear for my friend for her birthday, and my sister made me an autumn bear because she wanted to give me an early birthday gift. It was pretty late after that so we said goodbye to my sister and went back to the hotel. Then Sunday we went to breakfast at the hotel restaurant. They have a really great breakfast buffet and they make some really good omelettes. And then we went to California Adventure. It was so hot and I think it was even more humid than the day before. The first thing we did was got fast passes for Soarin' Over California and then our son wanted to go to the Redwood Creek Challenge Trail. So we ran around there for a bit and then headed towards the Paradise Pier. We rode the Golden Zephyr, the Orange Stinger. the Muholland Madness, and then we went back to Soarin'. Then we went tour the Mission Tortilla Factory and the Boudin Bakery. Then we walked back to the Holywood Backlot and went to the Animation building to see Crush. By then we went too hot and didn't feel like dealing with the heat anymore so we left the park. We went to Downtown Disney before we left the Resort because I wanted to go to Illuminations to get some candles and I didn't want them to melt while we walked around. So I got a pumpkin scented candle for myself and I got a Napa Valley Harvest scented candle for a co-worker whose birthday is this week. I'm on the social committee at work and I volunteered to get a candle for her because I knew I was going to Illuminations! Their Halloween and fall stuff is really nice. So, we made it home before 7:00PM. It was a good weekend, except for the heat. But it was nice because the ride lines were so short! Lisa
Lisa Totally Tigger  
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Mouseketeer
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 8:00:27 AM
Posts: 270, Visits: 1,277 |
| | am so jealous that you are close enough to do short trips like this. Sounds like you had a lovely time aside from the heat. I don't know why they can't renew the pass before it expires, silly really given it is to their advantage as you would lose the days between renewing it and when it would normally expire. I would probably check again when you get there incase the bloke said that cause he justs didn't know how to do it. Cheers Kirsten |
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Sorcerer Mickey
Group: Administrators
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 10:47:27 PM
Posts: 10,929, Visits: 6,267 |
| | Thanks for posting Lisa - I too wish we could go as much as you do. I heard last night on the news about the heat wave. I do remember heat like you experienced, because we had it last summer while there. In the 90's with 90% humidity. It was a killer, so I feel for you on this trip! Also, like Kirsten said, I would check back next time you are there. You know Disney - sometimes the right hand doesn't know what the left is doing. Worst they can say is that the first guy was right. Silly rule - after all, it is YOUR money. If you want to lose days on your pass, that is your choice. I know we won't be there when our passes expire next time, so am also hoping to renew online. Sounds like the Hilton was a great hotel. Is that the one by the convention center? If so, we stayed there 20 years ago. lol Leanne
 
May All Your Days Be Filled With Magic! And your nights full of Disney Dreams! |
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Mickey Mouse
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 9/30/2008 11:01:39 PM
Posts: 536, Visits: 499 |
| | Thanks to you both for your advice. Yah, normally when you renew, it's no big deal when you do it. I mean, they usually send you the renewal form in the mail a couple of months before your pass expires and after you receive that form, you can renew it online, by phone, by mail, or in person at the park. NOW they will date your pass one year after it EXPIRES instead of one year after you renew it. So MAKE SURE that they do it right because it used to be that they dated it one year after you renewed it and you did lose days of you renewed before your pass expired. Which wasn't fair. And of course, if you wait until your pass expires, you can't get the renewal discount. So they changed it, so make sure that your new pass expires one year after your current pass' expiration date. As far as renewing my son's pass; it's just that we have these vouchers for free annual passes that we got as a gift from the DVC and the DL guest services people were saying that we had to wait until my son's pass expires before we can use the voucher to renew his pass. I think it's stupid too because I think a lot of people who are already annual passholders would be interested in buying into the DVC. So why would they only give vouchers for NEW passes and not let you use the vouchers to renew your pass if you already have one? It just doesn't make sense. Anyway, yah I'll probably ask again when we go in a couple of weeks. If they refuse to do it, then I guess I'll have to take my son on a special trip to DL before our Halloween trip because I don't want to wait valuable Halloween time on this pass issue! Lisa
Lisa Totally Tigger
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Mickey Mouse
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 9/30/2008 11:01:39 PM
Posts: 536, Visits: 499 |
| | Hi Kirsten! Yah we had a pretty good time. We live about 2 and 1/2 hours from Anaheim and we've been crazy enough to go down for a day trip but we're getting a little too old for that now! LOL I wish we could go more often than we do; with my hubby's work schedule and being gone a lot and my work schedule, it's not always easy to take the time to go. It was easier when I was in school and my son wasn't. We used to take off for a fews days to my parents' when they used to live in L.A. Also when I was in school (graduate school) my campus was close to DL (next to the UCI medical center) and we would be sitting in class in the evening and hear the fireworks going off. I used to go to DL almost every weekend back then! Anyway, I'll let you know how it goes with the annual pass issue. Lisa kiwigirl (9/4/2007)
am so jealous that you are close enough to do short trips like this. Sounds like you had a lovely time aside from the heat. I don't know why they can't renew the pass before it expires, silly really given it is to their advantage as you would lose the days between renewing it and when it would normally expire. I would probably check again when you get there incase the bloke said that cause he justs didn't know how to do it. Cheers Kirsten
Lisa Totally Tigger
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| | | Plastic Ears
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 9/9/2007 9:40:57 PM
Posts: 2, Visits: 2 |
| Hi Lisa,
My son and I were also there the same weekend as you. We flew down from Seattle on Friday morning (8/31), arrived at the park about 1:00 and was surprised at not having to wait for rides as I had read on all the info sites. Saturday the lines picked up and it was soooo hot! We were in the park up through Monday (9/3) and flew back home on Tuesday the 4th. I'm already booking for another trip over Christmas. I can't believe what a fantastic time we had. We stayed at the Anaheim Marriot, right behind the Hilton. They gave us a 14th floor room with balcony, looking at the Hilton, and could see the fireworks over the Hilton from our balcony. All and All a perfect trip....except for the heat.
I had asked on another part of the forum about the AP and converting my park hopper tickets. I'm guessing I had to do it at the time we were there and there is no way to do that now. Would I be better off in December to get an AP while we are there and it would expire I'm guessing the following December 2008? We could than use it again over the summer of 2008, right?
Thanks!
What a magical time at Disneyland!
Sandy |
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Sorcerer Mickey
Group: Administrators
Last Login: 2 days ago @ 10:47:27 PM
Posts: 10,929, Visits: 6,267 |
| | Sandy - I think I answered your question in the AP forum, but here you go. If you upgrade parkhoppers to an AP, your AP will expire 1 year later on the date of the first use of your park hoppers. For example: We upgraded our hoppers to AP's on the last day of our trip in May. The first day of our trip was May 4th - the first day we used our park hoppers to enter the park. Our AP's will expire May 4, 2008. Leanne
May All Your Days Be Filled With Magic! And your nights full of Disney Dreams! |
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Mickey Mouse
Group: Forum Members
Last Login: 9/30/2008 11:01:39 PM
Posts: 536, Visits: 499 |
| | Wow! That's cool that we were there the same weekend! We may have seen each other and didn't even know it! LOL We'll be at the Parks for New Years. Dec. 30th through Jan. 1st. We were on the 7th floor of the Hilton facing the pool area. So I guess we wouldn't have been able to look out our windows and wave at each other. LOL Yes, as far as the annual passes go, you have to upgrade your park hopper tickets to annual passes when you're at the Parks. And if you do that in December 2007, they're good until Dec. 2008. Also, keep in mind that you'll have to check out the different kinds of annual passes they have and what the block out dates are because if you get one of the less expensive passes, you may find out that there are a lot of block out dates during the summer. We have premium passes with NO block out dates and I don't really keep track of the other passes so I can't tell you which passes have which block out dates. Also, remember to renew your passes before they expire and you can get a discount on your renewal! Saving money is always a good thing. Hope this helps! Lisa justakidatheart (9/9/2007)
Hi Lisa,
My son and I were also there the same weekend as you. We flew down from Seattle on Friday morning (8/31), arrived at the park about 1:00 and was surprised at not having to wait for rides as I had read on all the info sites. Saturday the lines picked up and it was soooo hot! We were in the park up through Monday (9/3) and flew back home on Tuesday the 4th. I'm already booking for another trip over Christmas. I can't believe what a fantastic time we had. We stayed at the Anaheim Marriot, right behind the Hilton. They gave us a 14th floor room with balcony, looking at the Hilton, and could see the fireworks over the Hilton from our balcony. All and All a perfect trip....except for the heat.
I had asked on another part of the forum about the AP and converting my park hopper tickets. I'm guessing I had to do it at the time we were there and there is no way to do that now. Would I be better off in December to get an AP while we are there and it would expire I'm guessing the following December 2008? We could than use it again over the summer of 2008, right?
Thanks!
Lisa Totally Tigger
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