lenshanem
06-22-2006, 08:52 PM
CALIFORNA ADVENTURE
I really, really did try to keep an open mind. I promise, I did. But, unfortunately I must say it doesn’t quite make it. There is potential, but it needs some punch. Ridemax didn’t work here – it was too slow! There was really no waits with the exception of a few rides. Even the big coaster California Screamin DH got off of before the girls had even finished riding the carousel! (He did say it was a great coaster, though!)
So here goes a few opinions on some of the attractions –
Monsters – FANTASTIC! I think maybe one of the best dark rides I’ve ever been on. They really did an awesome job on this one! I loved how you could even smell the sushi in the restaurant scene. Fabulous!
Tower of Terror – MGM’s version way better. I can’t believe this one was done after MGM’s. I imagine the lines do go faster, though – 3 elevator drops instead of 2. There was no free moving scenes like at MGM.
Aladdin – Like all the reviews said, it is one great show. Totally Broadway worthy.
Flik’s Fun Fair – lame, lame, lame. Where was the imagination here?
Paradise Pier – a jazzed up and cleaner version of my local Six Flags. Come on Imagineers!
Really not much to chat about. The park opened at 10:00 and we were done with everything we wanted to do by late afternoon and had time to walk over to Disneyland, shop and wait an hour for the 7:00 parade. (It is cool how you can keep your rental stroller and walk back and forth between parks. Plus, with our Disney Visa we got free stroller rental!)
FOOD!
Goofy’s Kitchen @ Disneyland Hotel – Long, two hour ordeal. It was about forty minutes and during dessert before the first character even came to our table. Wasn’t crazy about the buffet, chef did make a fresh plate of chicken nuggets for DD8 (She has a severe peanut allergy.), but it just seemed like there was barely anything for her to eat and I did call beforehand. When Goofy finally came over he was AWESOME! Best Goofy ever! He had my daughters in stitches! I got some wonderful video! He must have been at our table for a good 10 minutes! (Might have been me telling the manager we still hadn’t seen a character?) Then Aladdin came. He was great, too! Also, at our table for like 10 minutes! The video is hilarious! DD5 was telling him about her first airplane ride (He acted like he had never heard of an airplane, only carpets…) and she told him it even had a potty onboard! Even then he had to break a smile! Too funny!
Storytellers Cafe @ Grand Californian Hotel – Great. I loved how you didn’t have to order the buffet - we were able to order off the menu, save a ton of money, still get a huge breakfast and have characters! Chef was able to make my DD8 a safe breakfast and all was well. BTW, beautiful hotel. Very similar to WL, but not quite as rustic. If we ever go back out there we’ll definitely spend the extra points to stay there!
Ariel’s Grotto @ California Adventure – Make sure you call ahead for this one! I saw them turn away many people. It is a princess character meal and worth every penny! I have never experienced a character meal so organized. There was no stress at all and I loved the meal set up – you had three courses and several options to choose from for each course. The girls’ meals came in sand buckets with shovels, they got gold paper crowns and on top of dessert we had a plate of cotton candy! Two big thumbs up for this one!
Plaza Inn @ Disneyland – Chaotic mess! Chef was really nice here, but I have just gotten to the point I can’t stand the character buffets. They seem too stressful for me and this one was no exception. Characters were good, though.
DISNEYLAND HOTEL
Nice, older hotel. Definitely not what we are used to as far as Disney hotels go. Seriously lacking in theme, but we knew that going in. A little disappointed with the Neverland Pool. It was 4 feet deep everywhere and my DD5 couldn’t stand except on the steps. Made it a little harder for us to enjoy. She swims, but still it made it not as relaxing. Room was HUGE. It had alot of nice touches – cool comforters with attraction drawings on it, Tinkerbell border, etc. We loved the Disneyland map on the TV armoire, too. We were in the Sierra tower. Our room faced DTD and we could see some of the fireworks, but had a tree in our way. I loved how they pumped out the fireworks music at the hotel and we could hear it from our room! Our room wasn’t ready until after 4, we got in around 1 so it threw us off a little. They told us it was ready, but we had to go up several times before it really was. Kinda weird, I thought. The hotel was next to DTD. We had to walk thru it to get to the plaza that was the center for both the Disneyland and California Adventure gates. (They shared security stands.) It was a LONG walk. They had a monorail in DTD, but it takes you to Tomorrowland and we needed to go to the front gate to get a stroller. (Supposedly you can get strollers in Tomorrowland, but that proved to be time consuming and difficult.) Overall, we were satisfied with the hotel.
BLAH, BLAH, BLAH
What, no PhotoPass?!? I mentioned this to one of the managers working at one of the photo places and they looked at me like I was talking alien technology. I was surprised they don’t have this yet. It really makes it more convenient all the way around. I’m more inclined to buy photos online at home after the trip than to wait in one of those long lines they had. Wow.
Poor merchandise. Hey, we were prepared to do some serious shopping, but it was not meant to be. We particularly liked the Shag stuff, but there was little of it and even the 50th anniversary merchandise seemed to be on its way out. By our last day the Disneyland Hotel had moved all the Shag stuff out and put out a large POTC display. We did end up with some cool prints and DH got a really neat retro looking shirt that we saw on ebay for double after we got back home!
DVC booths were plentiful, but yet I think I only saw someone at one of the booths once! We did get a “welcome home” at both bell services and check in. I was impressed by that. We didn’t get a portable perks at check in, I’m glad we printed out a list of discounts before we went.
Suspicious package?!? Yep, on the morning out our taxi driver told us they had to evacuate both parks, DTD and the Grand Californian Hotel. True, we did see alot of roads blocked off as we were pulling out, but I’m guessing he was trying to see how gullible we are? And it appears we are! We got home and looked online and all we could find was there was a tragic accident where an officer got killed in a wreck on one of the roads outside the parks.
FLYING
Oh, I was a mess. Scared to fly, worried about DD8’s peanut allergy, worried about my DD5 sitting still for so long… Turns out everything went great! Flights ran on time, had no issues with getting through security with her EpiPens and going they made the row in front and behind us peanut free, coming home they made it a completely peanut free flight! Our luggage got checked both ways – guess we look sneaky? I dunno, but they called our names at John Wayne (BTW, definitely the airport to fly into! Taxi ride took less than 20 minutes to get to Disneyland Hotel.) to come to the baggage claim office on the load speaker. I thought for sure they lost our luggage! Only real snag was DD5 got sick as we were pulling into the gate. She slept most of the way home and it was a little bumpy. I think it was a case of motion sickness cause she was fine after that. A tad embarrassing, but at least it happened at the end! The flight home showed a DVC commercial. I thought that was interesting. It was on Delta.
SOOO…
Overall fun trip. It was nice to do something new. DD8 really had a great time, she cried the last night after watching the fireworks. Told us she didn’t want to leave the place that Walt built. I think that says it all.
Oscar Martinez -
http://home.comcast.net/~shanthompson/DL4.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~shanthompson/DL1.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~shanthompson/DL2.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~shanthompson/DL5.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~shanthompson/DL3.JPG
PART 1 -
http://www.mouseowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3671
I really, really did try to keep an open mind. I promise, I did. But, unfortunately I must say it doesn’t quite make it. There is potential, but it needs some punch. Ridemax didn’t work here – it was too slow! There was really no waits with the exception of a few rides. Even the big coaster California Screamin DH got off of before the girls had even finished riding the carousel! (He did say it was a great coaster, though!)
So here goes a few opinions on some of the attractions –
Monsters – FANTASTIC! I think maybe one of the best dark rides I’ve ever been on. They really did an awesome job on this one! I loved how you could even smell the sushi in the restaurant scene. Fabulous!
Tower of Terror – MGM’s version way better. I can’t believe this one was done after MGM’s. I imagine the lines do go faster, though – 3 elevator drops instead of 2. There was no free moving scenes like at MGM.
Aladdin – Like all the reviews said, it is one great show. Totally Broadway worthy.
Flik’s Fun Fair – lame, lame, lame. Where was the imagination here?
Paradise Pier – a jazzed up and cleaner version of my local Six Flags. Come on Imagineers!
Really not much to chat about. The park opened at 10:00 and we were done with everything we wanted to do by late afternoon and had time to walk over to Disneyland, shop and wait an hour for the 7:00 parade. (It is cool how you can keep your rental stroller and walk back and forth between parks. Plus, with our Disney Visa we got free stroller rental!)
FOOD!
Goofy’s Kitchen @ Disneyland Hotel – Long, two hour ordeal. It was about forty minutes and during dessert before the first character even came to our table. Wasn’t crazy about the buffet, chef did make a fresh plate of chicken nuggets for DD8 (She has a severe peanut allergy.), but it just seemed like there was barely anything for her to eat and I did call beforehand. When Goofy finally came over he was AWESOME! Best Goofy ever! He had my daughters in stitches! I got some wonderful video! He must have been at our table for a good 10 minutes! (Might have been me telling the manager we still hadn’t seen a character?) Then Aladdin came. He was great, too! Also, at our table for like 10 minutes! The video is hilarious! DD5 was telling him about her first airplane ride (He acted like he had never heard of an airplane, only carpets…) and she told him it even had a potty onboard! Even then he had to break a smile! Too funny!
Storytellers Cafe @ Grand Californian Hotel – Great. I loved how you didn’t have to order the buffet - we were able to order off the menu, save a ton of money, still get a huge breakfast and have characters! Chef was able to make my DD8 a safe breakfast and all was well. BTW, beautiful hotel. Very similar to WL, but not quite as rustic. If we ever go back out there we’ll definitely spend the extra points to stay there!
Ariel’s Grotto @ California Adventure – Make sure you call ahead for this one! I saw them turn away many people. It is a princess character meal and worth every penny! I have never experienced a character meal so organized. There was no stress at all and I loved the meal set up – you had three courses and several options to choose from for each course. The girls’ meals came in sand buckets with shovels, they got gold paper crowns and on top of dessert we had a plate of cotton candy! Two big thumbs up for this one!
Plaza Inn @ Disneyland – Chaotic mess! Chef was really nice here, but I have just gotten to the point I can’t stand the character buffets. They seem too stressful for me and this one was no exception. Characters were good, though.
DISNEYLAND HOTEL
Nice, older hotel. Definitely not what we are used to as far as Disney hotels go. Seriously lacking in theme, but we knew that going in. A little disappointed with the Neverland Pool. It was 4 feet deep everywhere and my DD5 couldn’t stand except on the steps. Made it a little harder for us to enjoy. She swims, but still it made it not as relaxing. Room was HUGE. It had alot of nice touches – cool comforters with attraction drawings on it, Tinkerbell border, etc. We loved the Disneyland map on the TV armoire, too. We were in the Sierra tower. Our room faced DTD and we could see some of the fireworks, but had a tree in our way. I loved how they pumped out the fireworks music at the hotel and we could hear it from our room! Our room wasn’t ready until after 4, we got in around 1 so it threw us off a little. They told us it was ready, but we had to go up several times before it really was. Kinda weird, I thought. The hotel was next to DTD. We had to walk thru it to get to the plaza that was the center for both the Disneyland and California Adventure gates. (They shared security stands.) It was a LONG walk. They had a monorail in DTD, but it takes you to Tomorrowland and we needed to go to the front gate to get a stroller. (Supposedly you can get strollers in Tomorrowland, but that proved to be time consuming and difficult.) Overall, we were satisfied with the hotel.
BLAH, BLAH, BLAH
What, no PhotoPass?!? I mentioned this to one of the managers working at one of the photo places and they looked at me like I was talking alien technology. I was surprised they don’t have this yet. It really makes it more convenient all the way around. I’m more inclined to buy photos online at home after the trip than to wait in one of those long lines they had. Wow.
Poor merchandise. Hey, we were prepared to do some serious shopping, but it was not meant to be. We particularly liked the Shag stuff, but there was little of it and even the 50th anniversary merchandise seemed to be on its way out. By our last day the Disneyland Hotel had moved all the Shag stuff out and put out a large POTC display. We did end up with some cool prints and DH got a really neat retro looking shirt that we saw on ebay for double after we got back home!
DVC booths were plentiful, but yet I think I only saw someone at one of the booths once! We did get a “welcome home” at both bell services and check in. I was impressed by that. We didn’t get a portable perks at check in, I’m glad we printed out a list of discounts before we went.
Suspicious package?!? Yep, on the morning out our taxi driver told us they had to evacuate both parks, DTD and the Grand Californian Hotel. True, we did see alot of roads blocked off as we were pulling out, but I’m guessing he was trying to see how gullible we are? And it appears we are! We got home and looked online and all we could find was there was a tragic accident where an officer got killed in a wreck on one of the roads outside the parks.
FLYING
Oh, I was a mess. Scared to fly, worried about DD8’s peanut allergy, worried about my DD5 sitting still for so long… Turns out everything went great! Flights ran on time, had no issues with getting through security with her EpiPens and going they made the row in front and behind us peanut free, coming home they made it a completely peanut free flight! Our luggage got checked both ways – guess we look sneaky? I dunno, but they called our names at John Wayne (BTW, definitely the airport to fly into! Taxi ride took less than 20 minutes to get to Disneyland Hotel.) to come to the baggage claim office on the load speaker. I thought for sure they lost our luggage! Only real snag was DD5 got sick as we were pulling into the gate. She slept most of the way home and it was a little bumpy. I think it was a case of motion sickness cause she was fine after that. A tad embarrassing, but at least it happened at the end! The flight home showed a DVC commercial. I thought that was interesting. It was on Delta.
SOOO…
Overall fun trip. It was nice to do something new. DD8 really had a great time, she cried the last night after watching the fireworks. Told us she didn’t want to leave the place that Walt built. I think that says it all.
Oscar Martinez -
http://home.comcast.net/~shanthompson/DL4.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~shanthompson/DL1.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~shanthompson/DL2.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~shanthompson/DL5.JPG
http://home.comcast.net/~shanthompson/DL3.JPG
PART 1 -
http://www.mouseowners.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3671