msr709
DISfan forever
- Joined
- Sep 15, 2000
I know, I know, this is very, very late but you know how it is, you get busy doing one thing or another and time just passes by! Enough apologies, now to my trip report:
Cast Members: CJ - 30 something New Disney Nut
Me - 40 something Old Disney Nut!
We left at 4:30am to Newark Airport for our 8:55am flight, we were coming from my house in Pennsylvania. Got in without incidence and boarded on time. Left 20 minutes after schedule but somehow arrived on time. Non-eventful flight. A word of caution when selecting flights from coast to coast, I usually prefer a non-stop flight when visiting Florida because its only a 2 hour flight and I erroneously followed the same presumption for this trip and was sadly mistaken. I would advise anyone with a bad back to take connecting flights. While the aircraft was comfortable, it could never be comfortable enough for me to sit for 6 hours straight. We flew on 737 Continental flight which I was very happy with, they did serve us breakfast and kept offering us drinks and snacks throughout the flight and even had a movie (on our return trip they showed 2 movies). The only way I would fly non-stop again to California would be first-class (which I rarely could afford) so for coach I would definitely, definitely take a connecting flight the day before I really want to be there. We arrived at John Wayne Airport and got our luggage (which took about 10 minutes), called SuperShuttle and got on the van and were on our way in less than 10 minutes! The service of SuperShuttle was great!
THE HOTEL: Got to the HoJo about 15 minutes later, so we were early for check-in (it was about 1:30pm). When we checked in and the clerk told us we could try the brand new pool if we wanted to and check back in about an hour. We were out the door and changing into our bathing suits before he finished the sentence I planned this ahead of time and put our bathing suits in our carry-ons.
We were changed and in the pool within the next 15 minutes. It was wonderful! We checked back in about 2:30 and our room was ready so the clerk got our luggage and took it up to our room with us. The room was exactly like they have online. We had a home office room, frig, microwave, coffee maker, hair dryer (all appeared to be brand new). They left us 2 bottles of water and 2 packs of Trail Mix left in our room every day, which I considered very good. I also got a card and a nice souvenir from Willie. We had a small walk out balcony facing the pool and DL. We were in Room 1307 in building 1 so we had tall trees in front of our window, I took pictures, when I figure out how to post them I will. Our room was cleaned every day by the time we got back from the park for our afternoon rest, which was usually about 1:00 to 2:00pm. Something women might be more interested in, is that the iron and ironing board also appeared to be new and were great to use. The extra vanity and sink outside the bathroom is very very useful when 2 women are traveling together! The only thing I can complain about is the pillows, very flat nothing pillows, but you can get as many as you want and you can ask for foam pillows which took care of it for me. The staff was wonderful!! The Manager, desk clerk, housekeeping, gardeners and maintenance men, they were all the nicest and most pleasant hotel staff I have dealt with in a long time! Kudos to the Management of the hotel!
Another thing worth mentioning is the location. We found the hotel to be very conveniently located. I have a bad back and bad knee and my knee specially acts up when I give it too much exercise and this was no exception but even with my bad knee we never found it necessary to take the shuttle, it is literally 5 minutes from the park. I CANT walk fast and we still managed to make it in 5 or the most 7 minutes. Not once did we ever see the need to take the shuttle, and quite honestly the location of the shuttles are at the entrance and from there its only a short distance to the hotel.
THE POOL: One thing about the main pool, there are several umbrellas tables but nothing else to get shade. I got a sunburn on my scalp and it must have been while at the pool! It never happened to me before since I have very thick hair, short but very thick. I have gone to Florida in the summer for the past 5 years and this has never happened to me before, I can only assume that it happened while in the pool since my hair was wet and close to my scalp at that time and there is absolutely no shade surrounding the pool. The top of my earlobes also got sunburned! I usually wear a visor or hat but I found it to be too hot for a hat and that was my results. It didnt feel has muggy as Florida but it sure was hot! We got into a routine of going early in the morning and leaving the park sometime after noon and spend time in the pool (which regardless, I enjoyed immensely!) and went back to the room to shower and change and had dinner somewhere and back to the park. Cant forget the whirlpool! Its very pleasant to sit there after a long day at the Park but it got filled pretty quickly but we still enjoyed it. We were there for the pool inauguration (Sunday) we stopped by on our way back from the park around 3:30, got a drink and some chips and went over to the quiet pool, the main pool was too crowded and they allowed some children to have oversized float toys that took up much of the pool. We were fine with it since we had been to this pool the first 4 days there!
The Parks: Very crowded! As it was very hot and crowded but we still managed to enjoy ourselves very much. The use of Fastpass is mandatory! Not using Fastpass during the season is unthinkable! I cant believe or understand how so many people still dont use it! We had the Passport Plus which gave us the unlimited fastpass option and it was worth its weight in gold!
We managed to do most of the rides and our favorites 3 and 4 times! We first did the Jungle Cruise which as it has been mentioned, is made by how entertaining the CM is and ours was very entertaining. It was a young woman and she was very funny. Now keep in mind that it was my SILs first time at a Disney park, she is a very jovial person to begin with so it doesnt take much to make her laugh so she enjoyed it very much. It seemed that the Tiki Room was always closed, I really wanted her to see this show since I had seen it in WDW and enjoyed it so much.
We got to ride Indiana Jones, and while I know it is a favorite by many, I was kind of dissapointed by it. It was very bumpy ride and I dont know if it was the hype of the boards but I seemed to be expect much more than what I experienced. It was fine but we didnt go out of our way to ride it again.
We both LOVED Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, it seemed to me that it was a longer and more enjoyable than the one in WDW, dont get me wrong, I like the one at WDW but the one in DL the ride seemed longer and smoother, it wound up to be one of our most favorites, we must have ridden it at least 6 or 7 times during our stay.
One all time favorite of mine that quickly became a favorite with my SIL was the Haunted Mansion and I saw Maynard! I was surprised it was him collecting the fastpasses, all I could say was youre Maynard and he said to me and youre Milly (I had my guest of honor pin on) and we both laughed, I couldnt stop to chat because there was a lot of people behind me. I only saw him that once, it was on a Friday but I went back on Saturday and Sunday and I didnt see him again. We did Haunted Mansion every time we came to the Park.
Found POTC to be much more enjoyable at DL, longer and more elaborate. Star Tours seemed the same, loved HISTA, one of my personal favorites and it became my SILs favorite 3-D show.
FINALLY DID DUMBO!! We went early in the morning and did all Fantasyland in a couple of hours. Dumbo was the first, I loved it!! After Dumbo, did Pinnochios Adventure, cute. Then we did Snow White, did you know the Witch peeks through the window over the entrance? I never noticed that in WDW. Also they still have Mr. Toads Wild Ride, a classic that I thought should never have been removed from WDW. We rode Alice in Wonderland Ride, very cute! Also rode Matterhorn, while it appears to be a favorite I found too bumpy for my taste but Im glad to have ridden it. Rode the Storybook Canal Boats, very cute, the CM was delightful! Ive got pictures of all of these rides but again, I havent yet figured out how to post them.
We went to the Fantasmic Dessert Buffet, it was wonderful! I am so glad I got to see Fantasmic this way, while I am not usually a dessert lover, the pastries were good but you are really paying for the location and comfort and it was well worth it as far as Im concerned! Fantasmic is different and I thought more enjoyable than the one in WDW but then again watching in such comfort could have clouded my judgment. The story line seemed easier to follow and more elaborate. I thought it was well worth the money. The fact that I cant sit on the ground has a lot to do with it, since I have a bad back and bad knees, this was the way to go for me! We were allowed to watch the fireworks from there as well and that was a treat in itself! The fireworks were also different and in my opinion, more enjoyable because of the music and narrative. I will just have to go to WDW soon to compare the new fireworks.
We didnt get to go on Winnie the Pooh or Splash Mountain (one of my favorites) because of the crowds. Nor did we see the American President (which I wanted to do but we never seemed to have enough time) nor the Golden Horseshoe Review (I have seen it in WDW and wanted to compare). We thought that 5 days would be enough time to see everything but with the crowds its very difficult to maneuver that Park.
Now over to California Adventure. I have to say I disagree with a lot of the posters about this Park, I loved it! Maybe because its not as crowded as DL but we absolutely enjoyed everything we did there. We had the Breakfast vouchers with our Passport Plus and had the breakfast at Pacific Wharf. We had the Breakfast Boule, while it was very tasty I would have preferred to have had the Croissant sandwich because the Boule was kind of tough! We got it with Coffee and Juice and used the vouchers in their entirety.
Our first ride was Soarin over California. That ride is AMAZING!! We both kept saying WoW everytime the scenery changed! It is the most unique ride Ive ever been on. You have to ride it to believe it. I do hope they put one in WDW, it will be an instant hit. We rode this ride everytime we were in the park at least twice!
Golden Zephyr, its a ride like Dumbo, you get to see a lot of the Park and its very calming. Next we rode Mulholland Madness, did not enjoy that one at all. I must be getting old but the bumps and turns on this ride were very unpleasant and we both agreed we did not care for this ride at all. It was funny because all the children we saw coming off this ride wanted to ride it again but all the parents gave us the rolling eyes and would quickly be looking for something else to distract the kids away from it. We tried to get to the Ferris Wheel but the lines were ALWAYS too long. My SIL did the Orange Stinger, which she enjoyed very much.
We also loved California Screamin, think Rockin Roller Coaster but the running time is longer! It was an awesome ride. Very smooth, we rode this at least twice everytime we came to this Park.
We saw Muppet 3D, and I dont know what it is but it wasnt as entertaining as I usually found it at WDW. It seemed the same but somehow different, couldnt put my finger on it and still cant figure it out but I didnt enjoy as much as the one at WDW.
We saw the Aladdin Show, what a treat! Dont miss this show if you have a chance! Very, very good. We got a seat on the second tier floor and the cast went by several times, it was a great show! I think it lasts something like 30 or 45 minutes but it is well worth it.
We were able to see the Electric Parade from Golden Winery Trattoria Restaurant, that was another wonderful time! I made 7:30pm reservations, when we were first seated they placed us in the back by the inner wall. I quickly (and politely) asked if they had anything available near the front railing and was told we would have to wait a little longer but it sure was worth it! We were seated after a 10 minutes wait at a table right next to the railing. Our waitress, Heidi][\b], was wonderful, she was a topnotch waitress, very outgoing, funny and efficient, a real delight! We had finished dinner about 8:00pm and she told us we were welcome to stay and enjoy the parade from there. If you have a chance to visit this restaurant I would encourage you to ask for Heidi, you wont be sorry, and the food was very good. It is mostly gourmet sandwiches and wine but very good. I had the roasted chicken sandwich and it was delicious. We also had the sparkling wine, several bottles (small 2 serving bottles) which were very good. We didnt notice until we started to take pictures that there were trees in the way as the parade passed us by (that sparkling wine was working overtime). These digital cameras have a few seconds delay and its very hard to time correctly. But we did get some decent pictures.
The last day of our park visits (Sunday) we got up late, had a wonderful big brunch at Mimis and leisurely strolled to DL to take pictures and ride whatever was convenient and available. At one point we went over to CA, went to Paradise Pier area and had a snowcone and people watched for an hour. Got some good pictures of the area. Mainly just walked around and took in the atmosphere of everything, wishing it wasn't time to leave tomorrow. On Monday morning we showered, packed and got our SuperShuttle to the airport.
Our flight home was a little more uncomfortable because we had 3 rather hyper young boys sitting behind us while the parents were in the seat across from them. The one behind me kept kicking my seat which usually wouldn't bother me, (we have two grandchildren ages 6 and 3 so we know how to tune children out) but it was so consistent that it was hurting my back. I didn't want to say anything but I did look back several times at the parents to catch their attention but they were too busy with their little girl to notice! I kept getting up to stretch and relieve my back from being pounded on. It was quite annoying since I was trying to sleep. We had gone to bed late the night before since we stayed at the parks until closing. But thankfully we did have 2 movies to watch and made it a point of nothing ruining my vacation!
All in all we had a wonderful trip, it was very relaxing, but it passed by all too quick. BTW, IMHO 5 days does NOT let you cover it all, between the crowds and the heat, you HAVE to go at a slower pace and if you really want to "take in" the atmosphere of the parks you definitely need more than 5 days! I'm just going to have to go back and do whatever I missed! I'm very happy I was able to take this trip and I got to see the "Original" Disneyland! Anyone that hasn't done it should definitely go for it. It was all worth every penny!
Cast Members: CJ - 30 something New Disney Nut
Me - 40 something Old Disney Nut!
We left at 4:30am to Newark Airport for our 8:55am flight, we were coming from my house in Pennsylvania. Got in without incidence and boarded on time. Left 20 minutes after schedule but somehow arrived on time. Non-eventful flight. A word of caution when selecting flights from coast to coast, I usually prefer a non-stop flight when visiting Florida because its only a 2 hour flight and I erroneously followed the same presumption for this trip and was sadly mistaken. I would advise anyone with a bad back to take connecting flights. While the aircraft was comfortable, it could never be comfortable enough for me to sit for 6 hours straight. We flew on 737 Continental flight which I was very happy with, they did serve us breakfast and kept offering us drinks and snacks throughout the flight and even had a movie (on our return trip they showed 2 movies). The only way I would fly non-stop again to California would be first-class (which I rarely could afford) so for coach I would definitely, definitely take a connecting flight the day before I really want to be there. We arrived at John Wayne Airport and got our luggage (which took about 10 minutes), called SuperShuttle and got on the van and were on our way in less than 10 minutes! The service of SuperShuttle was great!
THE HOTEL: Got to the HoJo about 15 minutes later, so we were early for check-in (it was about 1:30pm). When we checked in and the clerk told us we could try the brand new pool if we wanted to and check back in about an hour. We were out the door and changing into our bathing suits before he finished the sentence I planned this ahead of time and put our bathing suits in our carry-ons.
We were changed and in the pool within the next 15 minutes. It was wonderful! We checked back in about 2:30 and our room was ready so the clerk got our luggage and took it up to our room with us. The room was exactly like they have online. We had a home office room, frig, microwave, coffee maker, hair dryer (all appeared to be brand new). They left us 2 bottles of water and 2 packs of Trail Mix left in our room every day, which I considered very good. I also got a card and a nice souvenir from Willie. We had a small walk out balcony facing the pool and DL. We were in Room 1307 in building 1 so we had tall trees in front of our window, I took pictures, when I figure out how to post them I will. Our room was cleaned every day by the time we got back from the park for our afternoon rest, which was usually about 1:00 to 2:00pm. Something women might be more interested in, is that the iron and ironing board also appeared to be new and were great to use. The extra vanity and sink outside the bathroom is very very useful when 2 women are traveling together! The only thing I can complain about is the pillows, very flat nothing pillows, but you can get as many as you want and you can ask for foam pillows which took care of it for me. The staff was wonderful!! The Manager, desk clerk, housekeeping, gardeners and maintenance men, they were all the nicest and most pleasant hotel staff I have dealt with in a long time! Kudos to the Management of the hotel!
Another thing worth mentioning is the location. We found the hotel to be very conveniently located. I have a bad back and bad knee and my knee specially acts up when I give it too much exercise and this was no exception but even with my bad knee we never found it necessary to take the shuttle, it is literally 5 minutes from the park. I CANT walk fast and we still managed to make it in 5 or the most 7 minutes. Not once did we ever see the need to take the shuttle, and quite honestly the location of the shuttles are at the entrance and from there its only a short distance to the hotel.
THE POOL: One thing about the main pool, there are several umbrellas tables but nothing else to get shade. I got a sunburn on my scalp and it must have been while at the pool! It never happened to me before since I have very thick hair, short but very thick. I have gone to Florida in the summer for the past 5 years and this has never happened to me before, I can only assume that it happened while in the pool since my hair was wet and close to my scalp at that time and there is absolutely no shade surrounding the pool. The top of my earlobes also got sunburned! I usually wear a visor or hat but I found it to be too hot for a hat and that was my results. It didnt feel has muggy as Florida but it sure was hot! We got into a routine of going early in the morning and leaving the park sometime after noon and spend time in the pool (which regardless, I enjoyed immensely!) and went back to the room to shower and change and had dinner somewhere and back to the park. Cant forget the whirlpool! Its very pleasant to sit there after a long day at the Park but it got filled pretty quickly but we still enjoyed it. We were there for the pool inauguration (Sunday) we stopped by on our way back from the park around 3:30, got a drink and some chips and went over to the quiet pool, the main pool was too crowded and they allowed some children to have oversized float toys that took up much of the pool. We were fine with it since we had been to this pool the first 4 days there!
The Parks: Very crowded! As it was very hot and crowded but we still managed to enjoy ourselves very much. The use of Fastpass is mandatory! Not using Fastpass during the season is unthinkable! I cant believe or understand how so many people still dont use it! We had the Passport Plus which gave us the unlimited fastpass option and it was worth its weight in gold!
We managed to do most of the rides and our favorites 3 and 4 times! We first did the Jungle Cruise which as it has been mentioned, is made by how entertaining the CM is and ours was very entertaining. It was a young woman and she was very funny. Now keep in mind that it was my SILs first time at a Disney park, she is a very jovial person to begin with so it doesnt take much to make her laugh so she enjoyed it very much. It seemed that the Tiki Room was always closed, I really wanted her to see this show since I had seen it in WDW and enjoyed it so much.
We got to ride Indiana Jones, and while I know it is a favorite by many, I was kind of dissapointed by it. It was very bumpy ride and I dont know if it was the hype of the boards but I seemed to be expect much more than what I experienced. It was fine but we didnt go out of our way to ride it again.
We both LOVED Big Thunder Mountain Railroad, it seemed to me that it was a longer and more enjoyable than the one in WDW, dont get me wrong, I like the one at WDW but the one in DL the ride seemed longer and smoother, it wound up to be one of our most favorites, we must have ridden it at least 6 or 7 times during our stay.
One all time favorite of mine that quickly became a favorite with my SIL was the Haunted Mansion and I saw Maynard! I was surprised it was him collecting the fastpasses, all I could say was youre Maynard and he said to me and youre Milly (I had my guest of honor pin on) and we both laughed, I couldnt stop to chat because there was a lot of people behind me. I only saw him that once, it was on a Friday but I went back on Saturday and Sunday and I didnt see him again. We did Haunted Mansion every time we came to the Park.
Found POTC to be much more enjoyable at DL, longer and more elaborate. Star Tours seemed the same, loved HISTA, one of my personal favorites and it became my SILs favorite 3-D show.
FINALLY DID DUMBO!! We went early in the morning and did all Fantasyland in a couple of hours. Dumbo was the first, I loved it!! After Dumbo, did Pinnochios Adventure, cute. Then we did Snow White, did you know the Witch peeks through the window over the entrance? I never noticed that in WDW. Also they still have Mr. Toads Wild Ride, a classic that I thought should never have been removed from WDW. We rode Alice in Wonderland Ride, very cute! Also rode Matterhorn, while it appears to be a favorite I found too bumpy for my taste but Im glad to have ridden it. Rode the Storybook Canal Boats, very cute, the CM was delightful! Ive got pictures of all of these rides but again, I havent yet figured out how to post them.
We went to the Fantasmic Dessert Buffet, it was wonderful! I am so glad I got to see Fantasmic this way, while I am not usually a dessert lover, the pastries were good but you are really paying for the location and comfort and it was well worth it as far as Im concerned! Fantasmic is different and I thought more enjoyable than the one in WDW but then again watching in such comfort could have clouded my judgment. The story line seemed easier to follow and more elaborate. I thought it was well worth the money. The fact that I cant sit on the ground has a lot to do with it, since I have a bad back and bad knees, this was the way to go for me! We were allowed to watch the fireworks from there as well and that was a treat in itself! The fireworks were also different and in my opinion, more enjoyable because of the music and narrative. I will just have to go to WDW soon to compare the new fireworks.
We didnt get to go on Winnie the Pooh or Splash Mountain (one of my favorites) because of the crowds. Nor did we see the American President (which I wanted to do but we never seemed to have enough time) nor the Golden Horseshoe Review (I have seen it in WDW and wanted to compare). We thought that 5 days would be enough time to see everything but with the crowds its very difficult to maneuver that Park.
Now over to California Adventure. I have to say I disagree with a lot of the posters about this Park, I loved it! Maybe because its not as crowded as DL but we absolutely enjoyed everything we did there. We had the Breakfast vouchers with our Passport Plus and had the breakfast at Pacific Wharf. We had the Breakfast Boule, while it was very tasty I would have preferred to have had the Croissant sandwich because the Boule was kind of tough! We got it with Coffee and Juice and used the vouchers in their entirety.
Our first ride was Soarin over California. That ride is AMAZING!! We both kept saying WoW everytime the scenery changed! It is the most unique ride Ive ever been on. You have to ride it to believe it. I do hope they put one in WDW, it will be an instant hit. We rode this ride everytime we were in the park at least twice!
Golden Zephyr, its a ride like Dumbo, you get to see a lot of the Park and its very calming. Next we rode Mulholland Madness, did not enjoy that one at all. I must be getting old but the bumps and turns on this ride were very unpleasant and we both agreed we did not care for this ride at all. It was funny because all the children we saw coming off this ride wanted to ride it again but all the parents gave us the rolling eyes and would quickly be looking for something else to distract the kids away from it. We tried to get to the Ferris Wheel but the lines were ALWAYS too long. My SIL did the Orange Stinger, which she enjoyed very much.
We also loved California Screamin, think Rockin Roller Coaster but the running time is longer! It was an awesome ride. Very smooth, we rode this at least twice everytime we came to this Park.
We saw Muppet 3D, and I dont know what it is but it wasnt as entertaining as I usually found it at WDW. It seemed the same but somehow different, couldnt put my finger on it and still cant figure it out but I didnt enjoy as much as the one at WDW.
We saw the Aladdin Show, what a treat! Dont miss this show if you have a chance! Very, very good. We got a seat on the second tier floor and the cast went by several times, it was a great show! I think it lasts something like 30 or 45 minutes but it is well worth it.
We were able to see the Electric Parade from Golden Winery Trattoria Restaurant, that was another wonderful time! I made 7:30pm reservations, when we were first seated they placed us in the back by the inner wall. I quickly (and politely) asked if they had anything available near the front railing and was told we would have to wait a little longer but it sure was worth it! We were seated after a 10 minutes wait at a table right next to the railing. Our waitress, Heidi][\b], was wonderful, she was a topnotch waitress, very outgoing, funny and efficient, a real delight! We had finished dinner about 8:00pm and she told us we were welcome to stay and enjoy the parade from there. If you have a chance to visit this restaurant I would encourage you to ask for Heidi, you wont be sorry, and the food was very good. It is mostly gourmet sandwiches and wine but very good. I had the roasted chicken sandwich and it was delicious. We also had the sparkling wine, several bottles (small 2 serving bottles) which were very good. We didnt notice until we started to take pictures that there were trees in the way as the parade passed us by (that sparkling wine was working overtime). These digital cameras have a few seconds delay and its very hard to time correctly. But we did get some decent pictures.
The last day of our park visits (Sunday) we got up late, had a wonderful big brunch at Mimis and leisurely strolled to DL to take pictures and ride whatever was convenient and available. At one point we went over to CA, went to Paradise Pier area and had a snowcone and people watched for an hour. Got some good pictures of the area. Mainly just walked around and took in the atmosphere of everything, wishing it wasn't time to leave tomorrow. On Monday morning we showered, packed and got our SuperShuttle to the airport.
Our flight home was a little more uncomfortable because we had 3 rather hyper young boys sitting behind us while the parents were in the seat across from them. The one behind me kept kicking my seat which usually wouldn't bother me, (we have two grandchildren ages 6 and 3 so we know how to tune children out) but it was so consistent that it was hurting my back. I didn't want to say anything but I did look back several times at the parents to catch their attention but they were too busy with their little girl to notice! I kept getting up to stretch and relieve my back from being pounded on. It was quite annoying since I was trying to sleep. We had gone to bed late the night before since we stayed at the parks until closing. But thankfully we did have 2 movies to watch and made it a point of nothing ruining my vacation!
All in all we had a wonderful trip, it was very relaxing, but it passed by all too quick. BTW, IMHO 5 days does NOT let you cover it all, between the crowds and the heat, you HAVE to go at a slower pace and if you really want to "take in" the atmosphere of the parks you definitely need more than 5 days! I'm just going to have to go back and do whatever I missed! I'm very happy I was able to take this trip and I got to see the "Original" Disneyland! Anyone that hasn't done it should definitely go for it. It was all worth every penny!
