D
Disney Donna
Guest
Hi everyone... this is my first trip report, so please bear with me... Hope you enjoy reading it as much as I've enjoyed typing it... Now, on to the trip report!
Intro: First, let me introduce the "cast" of charactors. My name is Donna and I just turned "50". The reason I say this is because Disneyland and I turned 50 in the same year, (even though I'm 3 months younger). My family has been going to Disneyland since 1956 and we even meant Walt Disney while we were there. We really love going there and have made it a vacation place for us every year and sometimes more then once a year for several days at a time. To say that I'm a Disney Fanatic would be an understatement. We've been taking my kids since they were infants and husband and kids love it as well.
Susan, (age 43, almost 44) my friend, is like a sister to me. I've known her ever since she was born. My family and her family became fast and close friends when we meant each other while we were stationed in Hawaii. She was almost born on our couch. Since we were very close, when her Father got out of the Navy, they moved to Arizona where my Father retired, we became like sisters. Of all the times that my family went to Disneyland, Susan and I never went there together (except when we would meet up with our kids and family and then it was only for a short while)... so, we decided that we needed to have a "girls" weekend and thus the planning began. We decided that we would go to Disneyland during the Martin Luther King 3-day weekend, January 14-17. Now, I know it's to be crowded, but we just wanted to relax and do whatever we decided we wanted to do... sooo, on to Day One!
Day One - 1/14/06 - On the road...
We left on Saturday morning at 5:00 am Arizona time, gaining an hour in California... Yippee, more Disney for us
We grab some coffee and danish and off we drove. Now it's only a 6 1/2 hour drive, but we were chatting 
so much that I missed the 91 exit from I10... I knew the drive felt longer then it usually does, so by the time we realized that we missed the exit, we decided to stop for directions... (not something that guys like to do)... 
(just kidding)... Well, shortly after that we found our way to I5 South and exited on Harbour Blvd. We found our Hotel, Park Place Inn and Mini Suites, and our room, 127, bottom floor was ready! 
We parked the car by our room and found everything to be very convenient. What a great room, a little small, but just the right size for us. The window faced the pool, we had a microwave and refrig, coffee maker, vending machines down the hall and two comfy beds. The staff was very nice and helpful. I would love to stay there again. 
We had purchased our 3-day park-hopper passes on the Disney website and had it so that we could pick them up at the "Will Call" window. It was kinda rainy, so we grabbed our umbrellas
and off we went to retrieve our passes. I knew that if it was rainy that the park wouldn't be too crowded and so we decided that it was a great time to ride the rides while crowds were light.
After we had our passes in hand, we enterd Disneyland! Ahhh, what a beautiful place. Even raining, it's wonderful. We decided that we were really hungry, so we grab a corn dog and sat at the Coca Cola Corner and ate. We decided that we would start out in Adventureland. We noticed that the "Jungle Cruise" ride wasn't crowded, so we stood in line for maybe 10 minutes and had a wonderful skipper. I really liked the updates they made to the ride and the piranha's were pretty neat. What fun
Next, the "Indiana Jones" ride just re-opened after being "down" so off we went and in a few minutes we bere buckled up in our jeep having a great time going through caves, over bridges, going by snakes and dodging spears... but Indiana Jones helped us get back... what a guy!
Next we went to ride the "Pirates of the Caribbean"
As always, a fun and relaxing ride. I wonder how it will look after the refurb 
Hope they keep it awesome and keep most of the orginal ride.
Then we decided we should ride the "Haunted Mansion"
Susan doesn't really remember this ride as she confides in me that the last time she rode it was during her Senior High trip and she was "making out with a guy" while riding it... 
LOL... I was a little disappointed that it still had the "Nightmare Before Christmas" holiday overlay up... while I think it is very well done, I really like the original better... so, even though we enjoyed it, Susan still hasn't seen the original. I tried to explain some of the original parts to her, but you really have to see it to appreciate it.
Now, since we were close to the "Splash Mountain" ride, and it was kinda wet outside, we thought it would be a good time to ride. This is one of my favorite rides... in fact, the year that it first opened, I rode it 9 times that trip and didn't even know I was pregnant... hummm, wonder if that is why my youngest loves this ride too...
We got on the log and sat in the back, my favorite seat. We didn't get too wet and had a great time. The picture that is taken when going down the "big" drop turned out okay, but we wanted to try for a better picture (at least that was the excuse we used to ride again), so we went again. This time we asked for the front two seats. We got so wet, not by so much of the drops, but by the water coming over the sides of the log. We were soaked... 
and we couldn't stop laughing. We got a great picture the second time, so we each bought one for a souvenir.
We caught the train at New Orleans Square and rode around full circle and got off at NOS. We walked to Frontierland and saw that Billy Hill and the Hillbillies were playing at the Golden Horseshoe, so we went in. It was standing room only, so we went and stood by the bar and enjoyed the show... They were so funny... I was laughing so hard I loved how he imitated Elvis... I won't give the rest away in case you haven't seen it, but if you haven't, it's a good show and very fun.
We rode "Thunder Mountain Railroad" next. It was only about a 15 minute wait. I love how they make the rocks look like they are falling in the cavern now. Very fun.
It was getting kinda late and we had a big day, and with Susan starting to feel a little chill, we decided it was time to go back to the Hotel for some shut eye so we could get up early the next morning for another full day at the park. BUT, on the way out, I noticed that the Tiki Room wasn't crowded and the next show was to start in 5 minutes... so we went on in to see the show. Susan hasn't seen this before and enjoyed it as well. I love the fact that this was Walt Disney's first animatronics show... very well done and plus the fact that there's some of "Hawaii" in the show and since Susan was born in Hawaii, it made it more special.
Now we finally leave for the Hotel, but since we are hungry, we make a stop at Denny's, just a few steps away... we split a meal and with tummys full, we go back to the Hotel and got ready for bed. Thought we would be able to watch some TV... ha, ha, ha... but I soon fell asleep and so did Susan... Snor, Snor, nite, nite.
Next, Day 2 - A Freebie Day
Intro: First, let me introduce the "cast" of charactors. My name is Donna and I just turned "50". The reason I say this is because Disneyland and I turned 50 in the same year, (even though I'm 3 months younger). My family has been going to Disneyland since 1956 and we even meant Walt Disney while we were there. We really love going there and have made it a vacation place for us every year and sometimes more then once a year for several days at a time. To say that I'm a Disney Fanatic would be an understatement. We've been taking my kids since they were infants and husband and kids love it as well.
Susan, (age 43, almost 44) my friend, is like a sister to me. I've known her ever since she was born. My family and her family became fast and close friends when we meant each other while we were stationed in Hawaii. She was almost born on our couch. Since we were very close, when her Father got out of the Navy, they moved to Arizona where my Father retired, we became like sisters. Of all the times that my family went to Disneyland, Susan and I never went there together (except when we would meet up with our kids and family and then it was only for a short while)... so, we decided that we needed to have a "girls" weekend and thus the planning began. We decided that we would go to Disneyland during the Martin Luther King 3-day weekend, January 14-17. Now, I know it's to be crowded, but we just wanted to relax and do whatever we decided we wanted to do... sooo, on to Day One!
Day One - 1/14/06 - On the road...
We left on Saturday morning at 5:00 am Arizona time, gaining an hour in California... Yippee, more Disney for us
We grab some coffee and danish and off we drove. Now it's only a 6 1/2 hour drive, but we were chatting so much that I missed the 91 exit from I10... I knew the drive felt longer then it usually does, so by the time we realized that we missed the exit, we decided to stop for directions... (not something that guys like to do)... (just kidding)... Well, shortly after that we found our way to I5 South and exited on Harbour Blvd. We found our Hotel, Park Place Inn and Mini Suites, and our room, 127, bottom floor was ready! We parked the car by our room and found everything to be very convenient. What a great room, a little small, but just the right size for us. The window faced the pool, we had a microwave and refrig, coffee maker, vending machines down the hall and two comfy beds. The staff was very nice and helpful. I would love to stay there again. We had purchased our 3-day park-hopper passes on the Disney website and had it so that we could pick them up at the "Will Call" window. It was kinda rainy, so we grabbed our umbrellas
and off we went to retrieve our passes. I knew that if it was rainy that the park wouldn't be too crowded and so we decided that it was a great time to ride the rides while crowds were light.After we had our passes in hand, we enterd Disneyland! Ahhh, what a beautiful place. Even raining, it's wonderful. We decided that we were really hungry, so we grab a corn dog and sat at the Coca Cola Corner and ate. We decided that we would start out in Adventureland. We noticed that the "Jungle Cruise" ride wasn't crowded, so we stood in line for maybe 10 minutes and had a wonderful skipper. I really liked the updates they made to the ride and the piranha's were pretty neat. What fun
Next, the "Indiana Jones" ride just re-opened after being "down" so off we went and in a few minutes we bere buckled up in our jeep having a great time going through caves, over bridges, going by snakes and dodging spears... but Indiana Jones helped us get back... what a guy!Next we went to ride the "Pirates of the Caribbean"
As always, a fun and relaxing ride. I wonder how it will look after the refurb Hope they keep it awesome and keep most of the orginal ride.Then we decided we should ride the "Haunted Mansion"
Susan doesn't really remember this ride as she confides in me that the last time she rode it was during her Senior High trip and she was "making out with a guy" while riding it... LOL... I was a little disappointed that it still had the "Nightmare Before Christmas" holiday overlay up... while I think it is very well done, I really like the original better... so, even though we enjoyed it, Susan still hasn't seen the original. I tried to explain some of the original parts to her, but you really have to see it to appreciate it.Now, since we were close to the "Splash Mountain" ride, and it was kinda wet outside, we thought it would be a good time to ride. This is one of my favorite rides... in fact, the year that it first opened, I rode it 9 times that trip and didn't even know I was pregnant... hummm, wonder if that is why my youngest loves this ride too...
We got on the log and sat in the back, my favorite seat. We didn't get too wet and had a great time. The picture that is taken when going down the "big" drop turned out okay, but we wanted to try for a better picture (at least that was the excuse we used to ride again), so we went again. This time we asked for the front two seats. We got so wet, not by so much of the drops, but by the water coming over the sides of the log. We were soaked... and we couldn't stop laughing. We got a great picture the second time, so we each bought one for a souvenir.We caught the train at New Orleans Square and rode around full circle and got off at NOS. We walked to Frontierland and saw that Billy Hill and the Hillbillies were playing at the Golden Horseshoe, so we went in. It was standing room only, so we went and stood by the bar and enjoyed the show... They were so funny... I was laughing so hard
I loved how he imitated Elvis... I won't give the rest away in case you haven't seen it, but if you haven't, it's a good show and very fun.We rode "Thunder Mountain Railroad" next. It was only about a 15 minute wait. I love how they make the rocks look like they are falling in the cavern now. Very fun.
It was getting kinda late and we had a big day, and with Susan starting to feel a little chill, we decided it was time to go back to the Hotel for some shut eye so we could get up early the next morning for another full day at the park. BUT, on the way out, I noticed that the Tiki Room wasn't crowded and the next show was to start in 5 minutes... so we went on in to see the show. Susan hasn't seen this before and enjoyed it as well. I love the fact that this was Walt Disney's first animatronics show... very well done and plus the fact that there's some of "Hawaii" in the show and since Susan was born in Hawaii, it made it more special.
Now we finally leave for the Hotel, but since we are hungry, we make a stop at Denny's, just a few steps away... we split a meal and with tummys full, we go back to the Hotel and got ready for bed. Thought we would be able to watch some TV... ha, ha, ha... but I soon fell asleep and so did Susan... Snor, Snor, nite, nite.
Next, Day 2 - A Freebie Day
