iHEARTflorida
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Jun 18, 2006
We spent 3 nights in Anaheim to visit Disneyland, during our 5 week roadtrip around CA and the Southwest. A little bit of background, we [Mum, Dad and myself, DD19], did a roadtrip around California, and part of the Southwest hitting some Nationals Parks, in total we took nearly 10,000 photos, travelled 3874 miles through 4 states over 5 weeks, Mum could only do 3 weeks holiday, so DL is just Dad and I. If your interested in reading more about our trip, CLICK HERE, it includes photos, anywho... we have been to Disneyworld many times, and I was looking forward to visit the original. We got a deal for Best Western’s Stovall Inn, not the best location, but it was get your 3rd night free.
BW Stovall’s Inn: The hotel was nice, the room was modern though very dark, our bathroom was 10x brighter than the room itself, I think we were on the wrong side of the hotel for natural sunlight. Parking is $8 a day don't see why they need to charge though. Breakfast is free, they have a better range of breakfast foods then other hotels, but get there early, as they don't refill once they had finished using that day’s quota of food. I think breakfast finished at 9 or 930 but there was no choice left what-so-ever, if you got there late.
We were at the end of the long line of rooms, and we still had a noisy rooms, kids running screaming outside your rooms all day long, waking you up in the mornings, the dumper truck beeping waking you up in the morning. The hotel offers free Wi-Fi, though neither of us could get connected to it in the room, even after complaining to the front desk various times [we can always connect at other hotels]. It was a long walk to Disney 20mins+, next time we'll stay closer to Disney.
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Sun 25th July: We checked into the hotel around 4pm, coming from Long Beach. We headed straight for Disney, and got our City Pass changed to our 3 day Disney Hopper Pass. We decided to go to California Adventure and everyone seemed to be leaving it. Went to see if there was any fast passes available for World of Color, they were but only for 11:15pm, my Dad didn’t want to wait that long, so we skipped it for another night.
We went and watched the 5:20pm showing of Aladdin, the show is hilarious it’s a shame they are replacing it, the genie really steals the show. I think we had our first Mickey Ice Cream Cookies Sandwiches for the trip, you have to wait for them to defrost for 5-10mins, they really freeze the ice creams!
Next we went on Monsters Inc!, aimed at children, no need to ride again. Was able to walk straight on to Muppets 3D, didn’t have to watch the pre-show!!!! Same as WDW version. Next was It’s Tough to be a Bug, also the same as WDW, was soo funny though when everyone jumped up, as the critters/bugs left the theatre.
Over to Paradise Pier, but the rides had long waits [Toy Story, California Screaming], and were starting to close for World of Color. I rode Maliboomer by myself, I’m usually to afraid to ride these types of rides, but it was fun, what a rush! We tried to get on the single riders for Screaming, as the wait was 40mins, but the CM had just shut the queue.
We went to get some dinner, but saw the wait for Soarin’ was only 25mins, so we waited for that, got front row!! It was around 9pm now, so we headed over to Disneyland, to watch the fireworks, got a good spot, I just love the fireworks!!!!
We finally got some dinner at Downtown Disney, from the Jazz Kitchen Express, we had burgers and our first ben-nays! Back to the room gone 11pm.
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Mon 26th July: I wanted to be at Disneyland for their 8am opening, but after 4 weeks of travelling we were tried and slept in, and didn’t get into the park til gone 11am, I wasn’t happy. We had missed breakfast at the hotel, and all the DTD locations were changing to the lunch menu, so we ended up with nutella crepes from a stand.
We got the Monorail in from DTD to Tomorrowland, turned out to be Star Tours last day before closing for refurb, so we waited in the 40min queue to ride it, there was even press there interviewing people about the rides refurb. Star Tours definitely needs a refurb, I’m glad they’re finally doing it, I hope the WDW version is getting one too. Next we rode Buzz, stated only 20min but it was longer, Dad won.
Got FPs for Space for 5pm, rode the Matterhorn [40min wait], I got FPs for Thunder [2:45pm return], while in the queue. Attractions in DL seem a lot closer together, compared to in WDW. Next was A Small World, wait was only 20mins, but the loaders were taking forever to load the ride, and it seemed wheelchairs guests got priority.
What’s the rule regarding wheelchairs guests? Do they get priority? Or do they still have to wait the stated wait time? If so it seems unfair, I have never seem so many people in wheelchairs, I’m not sure if all the people in them always actually need them, or just use them in theme parks to get priority? What’s up with the blue slips some guests have as well?
As we got off A Small World, the parade was coming by, so we stopped and watched that, though it’s not the typical parade anymore where the floats continuously more round the circuit, they now stopped and dance for 5-10mins at a time.
Rode Thunder Mountain, and got FPs for Indie that wasn’t until 9:30pm. We then rode Space, and got a late lunch/dinner at the Pizza Joint next to Space, the food was good, we shared a slice of pizza, pasta and salad – we also got a coupon at the bottom of our receipt for 20% off merchandise! Never before has Disney given us any type of discount, woohoo!!! Must be the economy. I glad my Dad wouldn’t let me do my Disney shopping the night before!
We rode the Monorail out of the park I really like the future slim line style of the DL monorails, compared to the WDW ones. We had a rest in the hotel room, before heading back to the park, for the fireworks – again, and to ride Indie.
We rode the monorail in to the park, which seem to take forever this time. Got an alright view of the fireworks, the castle was to the right, but whatever. Don’t you find it annoying when you have a perfect view, then 5-10mins in to the show, the parents in front of you, put their child on their shoulders!!
Headed to Adventureland after the fireworks, it was a mission to get through the crowds! the queue for FP return was huge and chaotic, but we managed to get through. Indie was good, very similar to Animal Kingdom’s DINOSAUR. We checked out a few gift shops in Adventureland, got some ice cream in DTD, and were back to the hotel by 11:30pm.
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Tues 27th July: Had another little lie-in today, it was Magic Hours today, so I wanted to get to DL for 7am, and ride all the Fantasyland rides and Tomorrowland rides, before heading to CA to get FP’s for WoC. But Dad wanted to sleep, so we arrived at CA for 9:30am and queued in the HUGE queue for WoC FP’s, got tickets for the 9pm show in the Yellow Section.
Hit Soarin’, only a 15min wait, got FP’s for it as well.
Headed to Paradise Pier, I rode Screamin’ Single riders by myself, great ride, and then we both rode Screamin’ Single Riders, and got FP’s for it. We queued for Toy Story [45min wait], why no FP’s for it? This is a great ride I really love this, and Buzz. Dad says he’s doesn’t like the shoot-em-up rides, but I think he really does, he rubs it in when he wins! Which he did.
Dad sat in the sun, while I rode Maliboomer, and Mulholland Madness, via Single Rider. Next we rode Screamin’ with our FP, then back to Soarin’ with our FP. Lunchtime, and we had a good burger at Pilot’s Grill, I loved it when they have burger bars, and you can fill your own burger.
We went over to the Hollywood Lot, and was going to do the Backlot, we thought it was a tour like at MGM, we didn’t realise it was a show, so we skipped it. And got some more really frozen, Mickey Ice Cream Sandwiches.
I then rode ToT by myself, these types of rides aren’t’ good for my Dad’s back. I had never ridden ToT before, but as I had did Maliboomer twice now, by myself I thought I could do it. If you were to look at the ride photo, I’m the only person holding to my seat [I was on the front row aisle]!!! It was a great ride, definitely an adrenaline rusher!
I wanted to go to DL, and see the castle in more detail, and see what the Nemo Sub ride was about, but we arrived and the Main St area was heaving, the parade was on, it was 5:30ish so we hoped on the monorail and went and chilled in the room for a rest.
WoC was at 9pm, so we had dinner in DTD at Taqueria – they were some good tacos, not as good as the ones we later on had in Laguna Beach, then some beignets from the Jazz Kitchen for dessert. We got to CA, and headed for the WoC viewing area, I was hard to get a good spot in the Yellow Section, we were to the right of the show, and everyone was very protective over space, ‘We’re saving that for our friends’. We had an alright view in the end, but a big huge post was in the way. WoC was good, maybe next time we’ll do one of the dinner packages, to get a better view.
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Wed 28th July: Today we were heading to San Diego, but not before doing some shopping in DTD, we drove and parked at the DTD lot, 3 hours free parking. We spent over $200 in the World of Disney store, before our 20% discount.
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I really enjoyed Disney, and would love to come back
BW Stovall’s Inn: The hotel was nice, the room was modern though very dark, our bathroom was 10x brighter than the room itself, I think we were on the wrong side of the hotel for natural sunlight. Parking is $8 a day don't see why they need to charge though. Breakfast is free, they have a better range of breakfast foods then other hotels, but get there early, as they don't refill once they had finished using that day’s quota of food. I think breakfast finished at 9 or 930 but there was no choice left what-so-ever, if you got there late.
We were at the end of the long line of rooms, and we still had a noisy rooms, kids running screaming outside your rooms all day long, waking you up in the mornings, the dumper truck beeping waking you up in the morning. The hotel offers free Wi-Fi, though neither of us could get connected to it in the room, even after complaining to the front desk various times [we can always connect at other hotels]. It was a long walk to Disney 20mins+, next time we'll stay closer to Disney.
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Sun 25th July: We checked into the hotel around 4pm, coming from Long Beach. We headed straight for Disney, and got our City Pass changed to our 3 day Disney Hopper Pass. We decided to go to California Adventure and everyone seemed to be leaving it. Went to see if there was any fast passes available for World of Color, they were but only for 11:15pm, my Dad didn’t want to wait that long, so we skipped it for another night.
We went and watched the 5:20pm showing of Aladdin, the show is hilarious it’s a shame they are replacing it, the genie really steals the show. I think we had our first Mickey Ice Cream Cookies Sandwiches for the trip, you have to wait for them to defrost for 5-10mins, they really freeze the ice creams!
Next we went on Monsters Inc!, aimed at children, no need to ride again. Was able to walk straight on to Muppets 3D, didn’t have to watch the pre-show!!!! Same as WDW version. Next was It’s Tough to be a Bug, also the same as WDW, was soo funny though when everyone jumped up, as the critters/bugs left the theatre.
Over to Paradise Pier, but the rides had long waits [Toy Story, California Screaming], and were starting to close for World of Color. I rode Maliboomer by myself, I’m usually to afraid to ride these types of rides, but it was fun, what a rush! We tried to get on the single riders for Screaming, as the wait was 40mins, but the CM had just shut the queue.
We went to get some dinner, but saw the wait for Soarin’ was only 25mins, so we waited for that, got front row!! It was around 9pm now, so we headed over to Disneyland, to watch the fireworks, got a good spot, I just love the fireworks!!!!
We finally got some dinner at Downtown Disney, from the Jazz Kitchen Express, we had burgers and our first ben-nays! Back to the room gone 11pm.
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Mon 26th July: I wanted to be at Disneyland for their 8am opening, but after 4 weeks of travelling we were tried and slept in, and didn’t get into the park til gone 11am, I wasn’t happy. We had missed breakfast at the hotel, and all the DTD locations were changing to the lunch menu, so we ended up with nutella crepes from a stand.
We got the Monorail in from DTD to Tomorrowland, turned out to be Star Tours last day before closing for refurb, so we waited in the 40min queue to ride it, there was even press there interviewing people about the rides refurb. Star Tours definitely needs a refurb, I’m glad they’re finally doing it, I hope the WDW version is getting one too. Next we rode Buzz, stated only 20min but it was longer, Dad won.
Got FPs for Space for 5pm, rode the Matterhorn [40min wait], I got FPs for Thunder [2:45pm return], while in the queue. Attractions in DL seem a lot closer together, compared to in WDW. Next was A Small World, wait was only 20mins, but the loaders were taking forever to load the ride, and it seemed wheelchairs guests got priority.
What’s the rule regarding wheelchairs guests? Do they get priority? Or do they still have to wait the stated wait time? If so it seems unfair, I have never seem so many people in wheelchairs, I’m not sure if all the people in them always actually need them, or just use them in theme parks to get priority? What’s up with the blue slips some guests have as well?
As we got off A Small World, the parade was coming by, so we stopped and watched that, though it’s not the typical parade anymore where the floats continuously more round the circuit, they now stopped and dance for 5-10mins at a time.
Rode Thunder Mountain, and got FPs for Indie that wasn’t until 9:30pm. We then rode Space, and got a late lunch/dinner at the Pizza Joint next to Space, the food was good, we shared a slice of pizza, pasta and salad – we also got a coupon at the bottom of our receipt for 20% off merchandise! Never before has Disney given us any type of discount, woohoo!!! Must be the economy. I glad my Dad wouldn’t let me do my Disney shopping the night before!
We rode the Monorail out of the park I really like the future slim line style of the DL monorails, compared to the WDW ones. We had a rest in the hotel room, before heading back to the park, for the fireworks – again, and to ride Indie.
We rode the monorail in to the park, which seem to take forever this time. Got an alright view of the fireworks, the castle was to the right, but whatever. Don’t you find it annoying when you have a perfect view, then 5-10mins in to the show, the parents in front of you, put their child on their shoulders!!
Headed to Adventureland after the fireworks, it was a mission to get through the crowds! the queue for FP return was huge and chaotic, but we managed to get through. Indie was good, very similar to Animal Kingdom’s DINOSAUR. We checked out a few gift shops in Adventureland, got some ice cream in DTD, and were back to the hotel by 11:30pm.
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Tues 27th July: Had another little lie-in today, it was Magic Hours today, so I wanted to get to DL for 7am, and ride all the Fantasyland rides and Tomorrowland rides, before heading to CA to get FP’s for WoC. But Dad wanted to sleep, so we arrived at CA for 9:30am and queued in the HUGE queue for WoC FP’s, got tickets for the 9pm show in the Yellow Section.
Hit Soarin’, only a 15min wait, got FP’s for it as well.
Headed to Paradise Pier, I rode Screamin’ Single riders by myself, great ride, and then we both rode Screamin’ Single Riders, and got FP’s for it. We queued for Toy Story [45min wait], why no FP’s for it? This is a great ride I really love this, and Buzz. Dad says he’s doesn’t like the shoot-em-up rides, but I think he really does, he rubs it in when he wins! Which he did.
Dad sat in the sun, while I rode Maliboomer, and Mulholland Madness, via Single Rider. Next we rode Screamin’ with our FP, then back to Soarin’ with our FP. Lunchtime, and we had a good burger at Pilot’s Grill, I loved it when they have burger bars, and you can fill your own burger.
We went over to the Hollywood Lot, and was going to do the Backlot, we thought it was a tour like at MGM, we didn’t realise it was a show, so we skipped it. And got some more really frozen, Mickey Ice Cream Sandwiches.
I then rode ToT by myself, these types of rides aren’t’ good for my Dad’s back. I had never ridden ToT before, but as I had did Maliboomer twice now, by myself I thought I could do it. If you were to look at the ride photo, I’m the only person holding to my seat [I was on the front row aisle]!!! It was a great ride, definitely an adrenaline rusher!
I wanted to go to DL, and see the castle in more detail, and see what the Nemo Sub ride was about, but we arrived and the Main St area was heaving, the parade was on, it was 5:30ish so we hoped on the monorail and went and chilled in the room for a rest.
WoC was at 9pm, so we had dinner in DTD at Taqueria – they were some good tacos, not as good as the ones we later on had in Laguna Beach, then some beignets from the Jazz Kitchen for dessert. We got to CA, and headed for the WoC viewing area, I was hard to get a good spot in the Yellow Section, we were to the right of the show, and everyone was very protective over space, ‘We’re saving that for our friends’. We had an alright view in the end, but a big huge post was in the way. WoC was good, maybe next time we’ll do one of the dinner packages, to get a better view.
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Wed 28th July: Today we were heading to San Diego, but not before doing some shopping in DTD, we drove and parked at the DTD lot, 3 hours free parking. We spent over $200 in the World of Disney store, before our 20% discount.
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I really enjoyed Disney, and would love to come back
