jabead
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Sep 22, 2000
Cast - DH, 3 kids (ages 6, 9, 12), and myself
Dates - June 21 - July 3, 2002
Day 5 (6/25) - I got everyone up and out of our room early this morning for our 1st day at the parks. Disneyland was to open at 8:00a.m. so I figured that like at Disneyworld the gates would open at about 7:30 and I could get my annual pass while the rest of the family explored Main St. After a short walk through Downtown Disney we arrived at the gates at about 7:45 only to find long lines of people waiting to enter the park. Unlike at WDW, the park gates did not open here until precisely 8:00. Anyway we went straight to the Plaza Pavilion to exchange my AP voucher for the real thing with my picture. This just took about 5 - 10 minutes and then we decided to go to the nearby Plaza Inn restaurant for breakfast as we were all very hungry (we had decided to go to DCA today and it didn't open until 10:00). We waited in line for about 5 - 10 min. before being seated. This is a character breakfast with what is called "scramble" service. In otherwords, there were stations set up for drinks, cold foods, hot foods, made-to-order omelets, etc. We all went to the made-to-order omelet stations first (they had two) and chose our omelets with various ingredients. These were delicious! The characters here were Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, and Tigger (DD1's favorite Disney character) and they all visited our table and were quite friendly. We really enjoyed our breakfast here and thought it was better
(food, service, and character interaction) than a similar one at Crystal Palace in WDW. After breakfast we left Disneyland and walked across to California Adventure. We loved the fact that the two parks were so close to each other and you could easily park hop (unlike at WDW where you have to take a bus, boat, monorail etc.). By the time we got through security (had to have all our backpacks checked) and walked slowly through the front area of the park there was a long line at Soarin' over California. We got fast passes and walked to the Hollywood area of the park only to discover that it didn't open until 11:00. We got tickets from the guard at the entrance for the 1st show (1:30) of Blast. We then went to see It's Tough to be a Bug (which is exactly like that at Animal Kingdom). As we were walking out we saw Flik and Princess Atta nearby (first time we have ever seen these characters) so stopped for autographs and pics. It was then time to use our Fast Passes for Soarin'. This ride was fantastic!!! IMHO this is Disney's best ride of the 6 Disney parks I've been to. Anyway, then we went back to the Hollywood area to look around. Saw Cruella Deville by her trailer and got autograph and pic. At around 12:30 - 12:45 we got in line by the Hyperion Theater for BLAST. We stood in line for quite awhile (in the hot sun) before they opened the doors of the theater (which is a huge indoor and air conditioned theater), but it was well worth it. We chose seats in the front row of the balcony, which were pretty good. This show is definitely a MUST SEE!!! We had seen it at WDW last summer so knew what to expect but still thoroughly enjoyed (all 5 of us) the show. After the show we spoke with a few of the performers outside the theater and we even recognized a few of them from WDW). We had gotten Fast Passes for the River Rapids ride earlier and it was now time to use them. The ride was fun (and wet) and we found that it was very similiar to the ride at Animal Kingdom. We then decided to go back to our room (the GC hotel entrance is right by the River Rapids ride) so we there in less than 5 min., which was wonderful! We changed into dry clothes and then went to the Storyteller Cafe for a late lunch (it was about 4:00 and they serve lunch here until about 5 or 5:30). At lunch time they offer a 15% discount to AMEX cardholders. The restaurant was very nice and we had great service as the restaurant was almost vacant. The kids had the make your own pizzas which were a big hit. I tasted them and they were very good. DH had the quesadillas which he said were good. I had the corn chowder (delicious) and the cobb salad with grilled chicken (excellent). After our lunch we went back to the room and I got to take a little nap (heavenly) while DH took the kids to the pool. The kids reported that the pool (and slide) were nothing special. Of course, they are spoiled when it comes to pools as we have stayed at the Beach Club and the Polynesian at WDW (which have their all-time favorite pools, LOL!) Anyway they returned just in time to get dressed (wore pants and jackets as it had cooled off) and then we went back into DCA for the 9:00 Electrical Parade. We made a quick stop at the hotel's fast-food restaurant (I think it was called Whitewater Snacks) to purchase a couple refillable mugs (yes, they have them here too - just like at WDW) for I think $7.95 each and filled them with hot chocolate to take with us into the park. The Electrical Parade was wonderful, just as I had remembered it (we had seen it at WDW on our summer '00 trip and at Disneyland in summer '95). The park was then closed , however we were able to get ice cream cones from Burrr Bank Ice Cream on our way out. These were good but made us soooo cold that we practically ran back to our room - LOL!!!
Dates - June 21 - July 3, 2002
Day 5 (6/25) - I got everyone up and out of our room early this morning for our 1st day at the parks. Disneyland was to open at 8:00a.m. so I figured that like at Disneyworld the gates would open at about 7:30 and I could get my annual pass while the rest of the family explored Main St. After a short walk through Downtown Disney we arrived at the gates at about 7:45 only to find long lines of people waiting to enter the park. Unlike at WDW, the park gates did not open here until precisely 8:00. Anyway we went straight to the Plaza Pavilion to exchange my AP voucher for the real thing with my picture. This just took about 5 - 10 minutes and then we decided to go to the nearby Plaza Inn restaurant for breakfast as we were all very hungry (we had decided to go to DCA today and it didn't open until 10:00). We waited in line for about 5 - 10 min. before being seated. This is a character breakfast with what is called "scramble" service. In otherwords, there were stations set up for drinks, cold foods, hot foods, made-to-order omelets, etc. We all went to the made-to-order omelet stations first (they had two) and chose our omelets with various ingredients. These were delicious! The characters here were Pooh, Eeyore, Piglet, and Tigger (DD1's favorite Disney character) and they all visited our table and were quite friendly. We really enjoyed our breakfast here and thought it was better
(food, service, and character interaction) than a similar one at Crystal Palace in WDW. After breakfast we left Disneyland and walked across to California Adventure. We loved the fact that the two parks were so close to each other and you could easily park hop (unlike at WDW where you have to take a bus, boat, monorail etc.). By the time we got through security (had to have all our backpacks checked) and walked slowly through the front area of the park there was a long line at Soarin' over California. We got fast passes and walked to the Hollywood area of the park only to discover that it didn't open until 11:00. We got tickets from the guard at the entrance for the 1st show (1:30) of Blast. We then went to see It's Tough to be a Bug (which is exactly like that at Animal Kingdom). As we were walking out we saw Flik and Princess Atta nearby (first time we have ever seen these characters) so stopped for autographs and pics. It was then time to use our Fast Passes for Soarin'. This ride was fantastic!!! IMHO this is Disney's best ride of the 6 Disney parks I've been to. Anyway, then we went back to the Hollywood area to look around. Saw Cruella Deville by her trailer and got autograph and pic. At around 12:30 - 12:45 we got in line by the Hyperion Theater for BLAST. We stood in line for quite awhile (in the hot sun) before they opened the doors of the theater (which is a huge indoor and air conditioned theater), but it was well worth it. We chose seats in the front row of the balcony, which were pretty good. This show is definitely a MUST SEE!!! We had seen it at WDW last summer so knew what to expect but still thoroughly enjoyed (all 5 of us) the show. After the show we spoke with a few of the performers outside the theater and we even recognized a few of them from WDW). We had gotten Fast Passes for the River Rapids ride earlier and it was now time to use them. The ride was fun (and wet) and we found that it was very similiar to the ride at Animal Kingdom. We then decided to go back to our room (the GC hotel entrance is right by the River Rapids ride) so we there in less than 5 min., which was wonderful! We changed into dry clothes and then went to the Storyteller Cafe for a late lunch (it was about 4:00 and they serve lunch here until about 5 or 5:30). At lunch time they offer a 15% discount to AMEX cardholders. The restaurant was very nice and we had great service as the restaurant was almost vacant. The kids had the make your own pizzas which were a big hit. I tasted them and they were very good. DH had the quesadillas which he said were good. I had the corn chowder (delicious) and the cobb salad with grilled chicken (excellent). After our lunch we went back to the room and I got to take a little nap (heavenly) while DH took the kids to the pool. The kids reported that the pool (and slide) were nothing special. Of course, they are spoiled when it comes to pools as we have stayed at the Beach Club and the Polynesian at WDW (which have their all-time favorite pools, LOL!) Anyway they returned just in time to get dressed (wore pants and jackets as it had cooled off) and then we went back into DCA for the 9:00 Electrical Parade. We made a quick stop at the hotel's fast-food restaurant (I think it was called Whitewater Snacks) to purchase a couple refillable mugs (yes, they have them here too - just like at WDW) for I think $7.95 each and filled them with hot chocolate to take with us into the park. The Electrical Parade was wonderful, just as I had remembered it (we had seen it at WDW on our summer '00 trip and at Disneyland in summer '95). The park was then closed , however we were able to get ice cream cones from Burrr Bank Ice Cream on our way out. These were good but made us soooo cold that we practically ran back to our room - LOL!!!
Also DCA opens 30 minutes before time with Soaring over Calif open and the main hub open only... 
