Thought I would share a little of my trip as it happens...
Decided a while ago on a combo Disneyland/Aulani trip to celebrate turning 50. DL portion with sister and a friend, and Aulani with another friend.
Departed Pittsburgh yesterday and made it to SNA with a stop at Vegas airport. Turbulance was pretty bad landing in Vegas, but we were told that is normal this time of year.
Helpful tip for anyone flying into Vegas on Southwest: if you arrive in a B gate and are connecting to a flight leaving from a C gate, do not dally! That was quite a hike!
Tip for folks arriving at SNA on Southwest: if you are looking for the Ground Transportation area, it is across the street between poles 5 and 6 in the arrivals area.
Took a $10 shuttle ride to the Grand Californian. Checked in, exchanged our vouchers for tickets, grabbed dinner at Whitewater Snacks and had an early night. We had planned on making the 7 AM rope drop at DCA to get to RSR.
Tip for Whitewater Snacks: Large fountain driink is $3.69, while a 2 liter bottle is $3.49.
Well, we were at the main entrance area at 6:45 and were the 2nd party in line at our gate. All for naught! After entering the park and proceeding directly to Cars Land we were greeted by CMs saying RSR was down and not expected up anytime soon. Would not have minded so much if the CMs at the entrance had told us that... So off to ride Toy Story MM a couple times, then Mickey's wheel of death. RSR being down pretty much threw off our schedule, so we crossed over to DL shortly after 8.
We had a 10:30 reservation at Carnation Cafe, but they had no problem fitting us in around 8:30. After a yummy breakfast, we looked around the shops, rode Buzz, then headed back to the resort to wait for our friend to arrive. Pool time!
Late afternoon we headed back to DCA for dinner. After eating (first time trying Corn Dog Castle!) we were happy to hear RSR was open! Headed over there to take advantage of single rider line, stopping at every Photopass photographer we saw. That ride made the whole trip! With so many of the other big things being down, mainly Indy and Pirates, I was really looking forward to Cars Land. It did not disappoint!
We then leisurely made our way over to DL so we could watch Fantasmic! and the Fireworks. Took advantage of tips from the boards and hung out behind the big light fixture. I have been an AP at WDW for many years, and I can say that I enjoyed Fantasmic tonight, but could not really say one is better than the other.
Tomorrow we are doing the Welcome to Disneyland tour, so I will let you know how that goes!
Decided a while ago on a combo Disneyland/Aulani trip to celebrate turning 50. DL portion with sister and a friend, and Aulani with another friend.
Departed Pittsburgh yesterday and made it to SNA with a stop at Vegas airport. Turbulance was pretty bad landing in Vegas, but we were told that is normal this time of year.
Helpful tip for anyone flying into Vegas on Southwest: if you arrive in a B gate and are connecting to a flight leaving from a C gate, do not dally! That was quite a hike!
Tip for folks arriving at SNA on Southwest: if you are looking for the Ground Transportation area, it is across the street between poles 5 and 6 in the arrivals area.
Took a $10 shuttle ride to the Grand Californian. Checked in, exchanged our vouchers for tickets, grabbed dinner at Whitewater Snacks and had an early night. We had planned on making the 7 AM rope drop at DCA to get to RSR.
Tip for Whitewater Snacks: Large fountain driink is $3.69, while a 2 liter bottle is $3.49.
Well, we were at the main entrance area at 6:45 and were the 2nd party in line at our gate. All for naught! After entering the park and proceeding directly to Cars Land we were greeted by CMs saying RSR was down and not expected up anytime soon. Would not have minded so much if the CMs at the entrance had told us that... So off to ride Toy Story MM a couple times, then Mickey's wheel of death. RSR being down pretty much threw off our schedule, so we crossed over to DL shortly after 8.
We had a 10:30 reservation at Carnation Cafe, but they had no problem fitting us in around 8:30. After a yummy breakfast, we looked around the shops, rode Buzz, then headed back to the resort to wait for our friend to arrive. Pool time!
Late afternoon we headed back to DCA for dinner. After eating (first time trying Corn Dog Castle!) we were happy to hear RSR was open! Headed over there to take advantage of single rider line, stopping at every Photopass photographer we saw. That ride made the whole trip! With so many of the other big things being down, mainly Indy and Pirates, I was really looking forward to Cars Land. It did not disappoint!
We then leisurely made our way over to DL so we could watch Fantasmic! and the Fireworks. Took advantage of tips from the boards and hung out behind the big light fixture. I have been an AP at WDW for many years, and I can say that I enjoyed Fantasmic tonight, but could not really say one is better than the other.
Tomorrow we are doing the Welcome to Disneyland tour, so I will let you know how that goes!
After that, it was a similar walk and talk kind of tour around DL. We stopped at BTMRR so everyone could get a fastpass, and then walked around DL some more. Karli always asked if we had any questions, and would answer them if she could. The tour concluded at the same place it started, the tour gardens at the front of the park. She ducked inside for a brief moment, then came out with goodies for everyone! We got a paper with our dining reservation info and confirmation of our Aladdin show time (needed to show that!). We also each received the promised pin, along with fastpasses for Soarin and Star Tours that were good for any return time. Also, if anyone wanted to change their BTMRR fast pass return time, they were given that oppotunity. 
