Cast:
Me, dd, sister, mom and friend:
Lodging: Paradise Pier
Short version: We had such a blast, loved everything, didn't have a bad meal, and again, loved everything!
Long version:
Wednesday night we didn't head over to dl until about 6:30, and only had an hour before we hooked up with friends at Rainforest in DD. Was able to get on Space Mountain with only a 5 minute wait. Then autopia, then back on monorail to DD.
Thursday:
Character Breakfast for dd's "birthday" celebration at Goofy's kitchen. Great food, good character interaction, my dd was not very friendly towards characters, I think she was tired still and a little crabby LOL
Then over to DL, where we hit fantasyland first. No waits on anything, rode it all. some twice LOL
Next on to splash mountain, haunted mansion, pirates, and big thunder mountain.
No waits on anything, it was great. We saw tons of characters and were always able to get autographs and pictures with no hassle.
Headed back to the hotel to change for lunch at Ariel's grotto. I made a mistake on our reservation time though and we didn't get to go there. Instead went to CA Adventure for early dinner (4pm) where my daughter promptly passed out asleep in my lap LOL. After letting her sleep for a while we did her princess birthday bucket (with her in her belle costume) and then headed back over to DL until closing.
Friday: Coffee in the morning, breakfast was cereal bars or oatmeal in the hotel room.
Headed to DCA first, got split from the rest of the party, rode grizzly twice, the psycho ferris wheel once, and did soarin. I LOVED Soarin! that alone was worth going to DCA. My daughter I will note did not find a ride or roller coaster she didn't like. she even liked aforementioned psycho ferris wheel. who's idea of a sick joke is THAT? lol
Over to DL at 12:40 for blue bayou reservations, then back to hotel to swim/relax. It was 90+ this day (are you sure it was January??!?!?!?!)
Back to DCA to try to get into Aladdin, but that was a no-go. did animators, and watched electric parade, back to DL for fireworks and the rockets in tomorrow land.
Saturday:
Breakfast in hotel room again.
Sister is sick with ugly cold now.
Over to DL, space mountain and autopia first thing in the morning, and then over to toon town. I thought this was so cute!
Then to DCA for lunch finally at Ariel's grotto. I like the fixed price, but they need more appetizers than just soup and salad.
DD is fast fading and needs a nap. back to hotel to crash, over to DCA at 530 to get in line for aladdin. in this time, preferred seating put us in row 7, and we loved the show! This is a total must see like everyone said!
Got a fastpass to do soarin again and headed over to FFF. Rides were okay, my dd liked them, i was bored. but that bugs life show is NOT for the faint at heart. suffice it to say i was the idiot standing up and screaming at the end LOL.
Back to DL where we closed the place down doing pirates again, and big thunder mountain 3 times in a row!
Sunday: Mom, sis and friend are on a 10a flight and are out of the hotel at 8am. I pack up our stuff, put it in storage for our 1:30 ride back to the bay area, and head over to dl. Hit adventureland to do jungle cruise and tarzan's treehouse, the only things we haven't done yet. (I missed Indy since I didn't have anyone to stay with dd, and missed CA Screamin at DCA and Maliboomer for the same reasons... I was bummed, but couldn't change it so I moved on )
Finally found Stitch to get a picture and autograph, fastpassed Splash Mountain and went on haunted mansion 3 times in a row (My daughter loved it LOL) then over to pirates, back to SM, then to Main Street to check out the pics the photographer took of us in front of the castle. couldn't resist and bought them all (4 of em!). over to the penny arcade to do some more pressed pennies (this is dd "thing").
Off to dd to pick up a couple gifts and then back to PP to met our ride.
All in all we had a great time, thought the character interaction was great, including the princess parade and meet and greet. Did not get to see and do everything we wanted, and would have preferred a day off in the middle of our trip, so will make plans for that in the future.
One thing I did hear from a CM about the upcoming space mountain refurb is that it will be a whole new track complete with a loop and an inversion (I thought that was the same thing, but maybe someone can correct me?)
One thing I wished I'd done was find out more about the pin trading and checked ebay for some pins before we left. The pin trading was addictive, but after spending almost $7 for a pin, I didn't really want to trade, LOL.
Any questions, just ask and I'll tell!
Oh and if you remember I was down there for a trade show and stayed at the Alpine Inn... it wasn't bad for the price, but the continental breakfast left a lot to be desired!
Me, dd, sister, mom and friend:
Lodging: Paradise Pier
Short version: We had such a blast, loved everything, didn't have a bad meal, and again, loved everything!
Long version:
Wednesday night we didn't head over to dl until about 6:30, and only had an hour before we hooked up with friends at Rainforest in DD. Was able to get on Space Mountain with only a 5 minute wait. Then autopia, then back on monorail to DD.
Thursday:
Character Breakfast for dd's "birthday" celebration at Goofy's kitchen. Great food, good character interaction, my dd was not very friendly towards characters, I think she was tired still and a little crabby LOL
Then over to DL, where we hit fantasyland first. No waits on anything, rode it all. some twice LOL
Next on to splash mountain, haunted mansion, pirates, and big thunder mountain.
No waits on anything, it was great. We saw tons of characters and were always able to get autographs and pictures with no hassle.
Headed back to the hotel to change for lunch at Ariel's grotto. I made a mistake on our reservation time though and we didn't get to go there. Instead went to CA Adventure for early dinner (4pm) where my daughter promptly passed out asleep in my lap LOL. After letting her sleep for a while we did her princess birthday bucket (with her in her belle costume) and then headed back over to DL until closing.
Friday: Coffee in the morning, breakfast was cereal bars or oatmeal in the hotel room.
Headed to DCA first, got split from the rest of the party, rode grizzly twice, the psycho ferris wheel once, and did soarin. I LOVED Soarin! that alone was worth going to DCA. My daughter I will note did not find a ride or roller coaster she didn't like. she even liked aforementioned psycho ferris wheel. who's idea of a sick joke is THAT? lol
Over to DL at 12:40 for blue bayou reservations, then back to hotel to swim/relax. It was 90+ this day (are you sure it was January??!?!?!?!)
Back to DCA to try to get into Aladdin, but that was a no-go. did animators, and watched electric parade, back to DL for fireworks and the rockets in tomorrow land.
Saturday:
Breakfast in hotel room again.
Sister is sick with ugly cold now.
Over to DL, space mountain and autopia first thing in the morning, and then over to toon town. I thought this was so cute!
Then to DCA for lunch finally at Ariel's grotto. I like the fixed price, but they need more appetizers than just soup and salad.
DD is fast fading and needs a nap. back to hotel to crash, over to DCA at 530 to get in line for aladdin. in this time, preferred seating put us in row 7, and we loved the show! This is a total must see like everyone said!
Got a fastpass to do soarin again and headed over to FFF. Rides were okay, my dd liked them, i was bored. but that bugs life show is NOT for the faint at heart. suffice it to say i was the idiot standing up and screaming at the end LOL.
Back to DL where we closed the place down doing pirates again, and big thunder mountain 3 times in a row!
Sunday: Mom, sis and friend are on a 10a flight and are out of the hotel at 8am. I pack up our stuff, put it in storage for our 1:30 ride back to the bay area, and head over to dl. Hit adventureland to do jungle cruise and tarzan's treehouse, the only things we haven't done yet. (I missed Indy since I didn't have anyone to stay with dd, and missed CA Screamin at DCA and Maliboomer for the same reasons... I was bummed, but couldn't change it so I moved on )
Finally found Stitch to get a picture and autograph, fastpassed Splash Mountain and went on haunted mansion 3 times in a row (My daughter loved it LOL) then over to pirates, back to SM, then to Main Street to check out the pics the photographer took of us in front of the castle. couldn't resist and bought them all (4 of em!). over to the penny arcade to do some more pressed pennies (this is dd "thing").
Off to dd to pick up a couple gifts and then back to PP to met our ride.
All in all we had a great time, thought the character interaction was great, including the princess parade and meet and greet. Did not get to see and do everything we wanted, and would have preferred a day off in the middle of our trip, so will make plans for that in the future.
One thing I did hear from a CM about the upcoming space mountain refurb is that it will be a whole new track complete with a loop and an inversion (I thought that was the same thing, but maybe someone can correct me?)
One thing I wished I'd done was find out more about the pin trading and checked ebay for some pins before we left. The pin trading was addictive, but after spending almost $7 for a pin, I didn't really want to trade, LOL.
Any questions, just ask and I'll tell!
Oh and if you remember I was down there for a trade show and stayed at the Alpine Inn... it wasn't bad for the price, but the continental breakfast left a lot to be desired!
If you don't mind me asking, what was all included in your dd's princess birthday bucket? I looked on the website but it didn't give a whole lot of info. I know it's $20 and comes with a little cake but what else is included? Thanks!!
