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We went to Disneyland! June 5th - June 10th, 2008
We went to Disneyland!
June 5th - June 10th, 2008
The hardest part about writing a trip report is this beginning...I never know how to start one of these things!! Fortunately for me, this one is a bit easier to start, as we get to hop in our time-traveling Delorean and go back to 2004. See, that was the first time Jamie and I got to go to Disneyland. As fun and exciting as that was, it was almost a disaster -- we spent the entire trip dealing with Hurricane Ivan. The plan was to drive to New Orleans, fly from there to Houston, then on to Anaheim. Unfortunately, Ivan's initial approach towards New Orleans closed the airport there and had us stuck in evacuating traffic. We drove to Houston and caught our flight from there instead. However, Ivan turned and hit Pensacola, which had us worried about Jamie's home and workplace. It wasn't until the end of the trip that we found out her home, workplace & coworkers were OK. Add to that the fact that Disneyland was prepping for the 50th Anniversary during our visit. Sleeping Beauty Castle was completely covered. Matterhorn, Space Mountain, Tiki Room, Haunted Mansion and several other rides were closed. So, we've been eager to get back for some time.
Fast-forward to Fall 2007, when we decided to return to Disneyland, this time with Aaron (Little Nigel to some of you...can you believe he'll be starting 5th Grade this fall?!). It was his Christmas present, and he about passed out when we told him! Jamie had put together a little book, and at the very end it read "You're going to Disneyland!" Needless to say, his excitement built during the 5 months between then and the trip.
Day One - Thursday, June 5th
We had an early flight this morning, which was nice, as getting checked-in and through airport security was a breeze. Our flights and connection in Houston were smooth, and we were landing in California around lunchtime. We used Super Shuttle (was part of our AAA package, actually) and had a decent trip.
We stayed at the Best Western Park Place Inn & Mini Suites. We wanted a cheap room (as opposed to staying at one of the Disneyland resorts), but wanted to be close enough to walk to and from the parks -- and we were not disappointed. Yes, the place isn't the nicest hotel we've ever stayed in, but the staff is friendly, the rooms are really a good size, and we were literally a 5-minute walk from our room to Main Street! Can't beat that!
Our room wasn't quite ready when we arrive, but they held our luggage while we walked over to let Aaron get acquainted with Disneyland. There's nothing like being in the middle of the Esplanade, with Disneyland to the right, California Adventure on the left, and Downtown Disney in front of you! We needed some lunch, so we hit Rainforest Cafe. Jamie and I had been to the one at Downtown Disney at WDW and to the one here, but this was Aaron's first visit to any Rainforest Cafe. We had little to no wait, and the food was great. Having a coupon for a free kids meal didn't hurt either (another AAA package goody).
We did some pre-shopping at some of the Downtown Disney stores, then headed back to the room. We wanted to freshen up and relax before our first real treat of the trip: Dinner at Napa Rose in Disney's Grand Californian resort!
If you've never heard of Napa Rose, definitely look it up. It's one of best Disney restaurants of all the Disney restaurants around the world. Jamie and I had the pleasure of dining here last trip, and wanted to experience it again. For dinner, we were meeting a cousin of mine who now lives in the area. I hadn't seen him in almost 10 years, so getting together was definitely a priority. Our reservation was for 6:30, and we showed up on time -- but, unfortunately, my cousin was stuck in that famous LA traffic, and would be a half-hour late. I spoke with the greeter at the Napa Rose podium, and they said they'd wait as long as it took...classy! My cousin finally made it, and after re-introducions, we headed towards our table. Our server was superb. He not only attended to our needs during the meal, he took plenty of time with Aaron as well. Jamie, Doug & I ordered the Vintners Table (a complete 4 course meal with wine pairings). Absolutely the best meal we've ever had. I wish I could remember everything we had, but I know it was good!
We were able to hang out after dinner for a few more hours with my cousin, catching up on old times, which was nice. Aaron had fun roaming around the Grand Californian and snapping pics with his camera. We asked Doug if he'd like to join us at Disneyland Park one day during our stay, as he hadn't had the chance to visit since moving to the area. We made plans on getting together with him on Saturday, and parted ways.
Ya know, the walk through Downtown Disney is just so nice, especially late at night. The weather is beautiful, and it's so peaceful... Unfortunately, the peace and quiet were quickly over as we got closer to the Esplanade -- Grad Nite was getting started, and there were kids everywhere! Luckily, there seemed to be plenty of security and adult-types around, so all was good.
Anywho, we got back to our room and got to sleep as quickly as we could, knowing we had several full days ahead of us.
Celebrity Sighting Counter: 0
Day 2 - Friday, June 6th
Slept in a bit, which was nice, but headed out the door and over to Downtown Disney for breakfast. Got some beignets from Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen. Very disappointing -- nothing like what we're used to when we visit New Orleans. Oh well.
On to Disneyland Park! We wanted to visit there first and let Aaron have the full effect of their Magic Kingdom. A quick firetruck ride up Main Street, and we were gazing longingly at Sleeping Beauty Castle. We headed into Fantasyland, which was remotely quiet -- no more than 5 minute waits for Pinocchio, Casey Jr, Mr. Toad's & Alice. Yay! Now, I had this grand plan of maxing out our FastPasses and really taking advantage of everything we could (short lines, etc.) but all that got thrown completely out the window when we got there. Oh well, we were just happy to be there, so that was more important.
We decided to take a break from the heat and the people over at the Lost Bar at the Disneyland Hotel. It's our favorite place to chill (and Aaron loves to walk around, watch the remote-controlled boats, etc.). Then it was back to Disneyland!
We were able to hit Pirates, Indy and a few other attractions before sundown. We caught the 6:30 Parade of Dreams, which is a great parade. We were impressed with the Pinocchio float! We were getting extremely tired around 8pm, and thought we couldn't make it long enough to catch the fireworks (9:20), much less stay till closing (midnight), but a few Main Street hot dogs gave us some extra fuel, so we watched Remember...Dreams Come True -- what an awesome show! How do they make fireworks do those shapes?! It's an excellent show, and we love the tributes to the attractions.
Almost forgot: we were in one of the shops on Main Street, and one of the kids roaming around in there caught Jamie's eye. After a few seconds, she realized it was one of the kids from the Are You Smarter Than A Fifth Grader DVD game! Cool! Our first celebrity sighting!
Celebrity Sighting Counter: 1
Day 3 - Saturday, June 7th
We were going to make this morning our Early Entry day, but we were just so tired, we decided to sleep in a bit. Doug was coming in to join us, so we decided to just wait for him (as opposed to doing the Early Entry thing, then leaving to meet up with him). After enjoying some pastries from Main Street, and eating them on a bench near the Partners Statue, we knew we needed to get going and stick to some sort of FastPass strategy. I picked up FastPasses for Indy for us all, then we all headed for the Nemo sub ride. I gotta say, we were impressed with this!! We also rode Space Mountain, and again -- impressive! I really hope they update WDW's Space Mountain with this experience.
We were able to catch Indy, Jungle Cruise, Haunted Mansion, Splash Mountain, Pirates, Matterhorn, Buzz Lightyear -- and even Space Mountain a 2nd time, all before 5.
We headed back to the room around 5pm or so, to take a break and say goodbye to Doug, he had to head to work that evening. So, after that, we headed over to California Adventure. Dinner reservations for the Vineyard Room were for 6:30. The upstairs terrace dining was really nice, and Jamie and I ordered their 3-course meal with the wine pairing. Although not nearly as nice as Napa Rose, this was another excellent meal. Our server let us know we were more than happy to stick around and watch the Electric Parade from our table! What a nice surprise, as we had just planned on heading down and watching the parade street-level. So, we stuck around, had the terrace all to ourselves (with the exception of a nice gentleman and his daughter) and enjoyed the parade. It was the first chance for Aaron to watch it, and I enjoyed seeing again -- so many great childhood memories of the Electrical Parade!
Celebrity Sighting Counter: 1
part two, coming soon!
Nigel
Head Jamieketeer, Chief Cabana Boy (tm)
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part two...
Day 4 - Sunday, June 8th
We started off over at California Adventure this morning, since we hadn't had the chance to take in any rides here. Aaron and I did Turtle Talk with Crush, then hit California Screamin'. Now, this was Aaron's first real roller coaster, much less his first experience with a loop. Halfway thru, he was scared, but by the end he was ready to do it again!! That's my boy... We took an hour or so to decompress at the Avalon Cove. We filled up on wings and a tasty lobster nacho plate. Yummy! We walked past the new Toy Story Mania ride -- unfortunately, they were only doing Cast Member previews, so we didn't get to ride it. :-( But, we did stop to watch the Mr. Potato Head audio-animatronic -- pretty cool!! We continued around Paradise Pier, and then back thru the Golden State area, on our way back over to Disneyland Park.
We were able to hit the rest of the rides that we hadn't gotten to do the previous days: Tiki Room, First 50 Magical Years, etc.
We decided to hit Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen in Downtown Disney for dinner. The evening weather was just perfect, and we were seated upstairs, out on the balcony. I noticed a Guest Services Cast Member dining with the group at the table next to ours. I didn't think much of it at first, till I saw that one of the diners was BOB SAGET! OMG! He was there with several family members and friends, celebrating a birthday (his wife, I think). I tried to tell Aaron who he was, but he hadn't ever watched Full House or America's Funniest Home Videos. He's 10, what can I say!
I'm pretty sure we hit Disneyland Park again -- in fact, we were there till closing, so that was nice. We said goodbye to Sleeping Beauty Castle before hading back to the room. :-(
Celebrity Sighting Counter: 2
Day 5 - Monday, June 9th
Today was our "free day". We had 3 day park hopper tickets, and had already used them up, and we wanted to do something a bit different before heading home the next day. We had decided to rent a car and do some exploring around LA. Select Rent-a-Car has a location at the Best Western, so we had pre-arranged to rent a red convertible Mustang for our trip. We put the top down, then headed towards Hollywood! We stopped off at a place close to the "Hollywood" sign for some pics, then headed towards Hollywood & Highland, the "center" of town. There's a huge shopping area, where the Kodak Theater is. This is where the Oscars and Emmys are held. We walked along Hollywood Boulevard for a bit, looking at the "stars" on the sidewalk, then popped into the Disney Soda Fountain & store (next to the El Capitan theater). We then walked over to Graumann's Chinese Theater and checked out the handprints. Lots of folks were doing the same, it was getting hot and a bit uncomfortable, so we fetched the car and got back on the road -- we had 12:00 lunch reservations at Wolfgang Puck's Spago! We were very impressed here. I was afraid having a 10 year old and all of us being in semi-vacation attire would get us dirty looks, but the entire staff was friendly and attentive. We had an excellent meal, and got back on the road towards Santa Monica. It was a bit hazy, so we headed north to Malibu. What an awesome drive! We stopped at one point to sit and look out at the Pacific.
By now, we were getting really tired. Between the heat and the people, we were just ready to get back to the hotel and relax for a bit. So, we hopped on I-10 (Aaron is happy to say he's been at both ends of I-10), then down I-5 back to the hotel. Traffic was...well, let's just say I don't ever want to drive in LA traffic ever again. :-S I don't know how people deal with that every day...
Anywho -- back at the hotel, we chilled for awhile (Aaron crashed on the couch and slept a couple of hours). We headed over to the Lost Bar for a short break, then headed over to Downtown Disney for our last meal. We were in the mood for some good ol burgers, so we hit the ESPN Zone. Very cool place (haven't been in the one at WDW yet). Great burgers and beer! We headed back to the hotel, stopping to take some final pics in the Esplanade.
Celebrity Sighting Counter: 2
Day 6 - Tuesday, June 10th
Well, it's time to go home. Super Shuttle pickup was actually a few minutes early, which was nice, so we were on our way and at the airport in plenty of time. Check-in and security were quick enough, and we had time to have some breakfast and relax for a little while at the gate. The flight to Houston was on-schedule, but, our flight from Houston to home was delayed for 2 hours! At least if we were going to have a delay this trip, it was the last leg of the journey.
Celebrity Sighting Counter: 2
All-in-all, the trip was a huge success. Jamie and I were glad to be back at Disneyland, and were extremely happy to be able to see the castle this time, and to experience the attractions we didn't get to do last time.
Well, thanks for reading, hope it wasn't too boring! :-) Pics are available thru my home page link!
Nigel
Head Jamieketeer, Chief Cabana Boy (tm)
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Thanks for Sharing your trip with us!
Now I am REALLY pumped for our first trip in just 4 short weeks!
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Thanks for the report.
Jeff
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I really enjoyed reading your report. I'd love to visit Disneyland one day, so reading about it was not at all boring to me. I am glad you all had a wonderful time.
Denise
Resorts we've stayed at in 20+ trips: ASMo, ASMu, ASSp, PC, CSR, CBR, POR, POFQ, WL, AKL Jambo, AKL Kidani, Poly, Contemporary, BC, YC, BWV, OKW, SSR, Swan, Shades of Green, Vero Beach, Disneyland Resort
Next Trip: ???
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Thanks for the report, I am glad to see you had a great time at Walt's Park!
Michael aka: NotaGeek
INTERCOT Insider Live Podcast Staff
WDW 1/6/16 - 1/11/16 - BRING ON THE COWBELLS!
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What a great trip - it's amazing how different DL really is from Disney World. Judging by Aaron's face, his Christmas present couldn't have been any better! Thanks for sharing with us!
Carol (aka KylesMom)
INTERCOT Staff: Mousellaneous & Trip Reports
Last Trip: ICOT 15
Happy A/P Holder 2002 - 2011
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I can just see the expressions on Aaron's face... He is such a great kid. Kuddos to Jamie too for helping make it so special. I'm sure you all made memories that will last a lifetime...
Great report, great trip, can't wait to see the pictures....
Next
DD, DS @ AKV Dec 12 SSR 12-16
AKV Savannah 8/08
ASMu my BD 4/08 w/ Angel & MrsSgtT
SSR 10/07 BWV-12/06
Pop-05 04 03 1st Nighters
OKW-97 96 Poly- 89 87 86 CR:72
Offsite:8xs FW:83 82 82 DL 67,68,71
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Glad you had such a great time! The firework show at Disneyland is killer ain't it! How awesome with the tributes to the different rides and how it's all around you. And neat that you saw two celebrities! Thanks for sharing!
Diane
Dec '06 - All Star Movie
Nov. 2007 - Disneyland @ Disneyland Hotel
Nov. 9 -15, 2008, Pop Century
Oct. 19-23, 2011, Disneyland @ Paradise Pier
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What a great trip you guys had. And to see a few celebrities as well was an extra bonus. Your meals sounds delicious.
Amanda
Wishes. Dreams. Magic.
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Thanks for the report!
ºoº David, Lisa, Aaron and Allison
98-PO
00-CB & ASMo
01-Swan
02-CS
03-POR
04-POP
05-PO / CR
07-PO / CR
08-ASMu
09-AKL
10-CR, CS & PP DL
11-NB DLP & SSR
12-BLT & BLT
13-GC DL & BLT
15-Aulani & BLT
16-ASMu & GC DL
17-BWI, THV, CSR, BLT
18-BLT, OKW, OKW, CBR, GF & BLT
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Great report ... I've never tried the beignets from Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen, but really enjoyed them on my last trip to New Orleans.
The Remember Dreams Come True firework show is one of the best fireworks shows Disney has done at any of the parks I've visited. Sounds like you had a good time. Thanks for sharing.
Chris °O°
DISNEYLAND AP - First visit 1969
WALT DISNEY WORLD - First visit 1985
HONG KONG DISNEYLAND - First visit 2005
SHANGHAI DISNEYLAND - First visit 2016
DISNEY DREAM CRUISE - First Cruise March 2019
FUTURE + WORLD SHOWCASE = EPCOT (Favorite WDW park)
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What a great time you guys had!! I am dying to go to DL, people tell me that I will be a little let down after WDW, but I know that isn't true, I will love it. Napa Rose is on my list, too! Chef Andrew is always on the Travel Channel. And Bob Saget!! My kids love Full House thanks to Nickolodean and ABC Family Channel, was Uncle Jessie there, I would have loved that, haha.
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Hey...I think we saw you on the 8th. We were at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen on the balcony next to Bob Saget too. It was my husband, myself and my daughter. LOL
Does your son look like a mini you?? There was a family of 3 that I pointed out to my hubby because the dad and son looked just like each other. hehe
Great trip report I really enjoyed reading it!!
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Sounds like a wonderful trip to Disneyland for you guys. I am so glad that Aaron enjoyed his first time there. Thanks for sharing with us.
Donna
Intercot Staff
My father's name was Ferdinand, my mama's name was Liza, they didn't know what to call me so they called me Ferdiliza!
Billy Hill and the Hillbillies - "I'm OK!"
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What a great trip! You convinced me to add another night and day onto our stay (one month from today! ) Thanks for sharing.
Jennifer (aka Mickey'sGirl)
INTERCOT Staff: Guests with Special Needs, Dining and Disney Characters
Last trip: March 2016 - Fantasy
Next trip: Aug 2017 - Aulani
I am a Galactic Hero once more!
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Originally Posted by DisneyLandMomma
Hey...I think we saw you on the 8th. We were at Ralph Brennan's Jazz Kitchen on the balcony next to Bob Saget too. It was my husband, myself and my daughter. LOL
Does your son look like a mini you?? There was a family of 3 that I pointed out to my hubby because the dad and son looked just like each other. hehe
Great trip report I really enjoyed reading it!!
Oh wow!!! Were you the table that had the really slow service?? We felt so bad for ya'll.
Well, how cool. Let's all sing "it's a small world"! :-)
Glad you enjoyed the trip report!
In case y'all missed the note, pics from the trip are available on my 'home page'.
Nigel
Head Jamieketeer, Chief Cabana Boy (tm)
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Originally Posted by Dr_Nigel_C
Oh wow!!! Were you the table that had the really slow service?? We felt so bad for ya'll.
Yes!!!! But we did get our appetizer free(which came after we were already almost finished with our meals) and an order of mac and cheese for my daughter to take home. LOL
How funny!!
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