For All Who Come to this Happy Place: My 1st Trip to DL for the POTC World Premiere!

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

My First Trip to Disneyland for...

The "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" World Premiere!!!



Our Trip:
Thursday, May 17 - Monday, May 21


I am finally beginning my Disneyland Trippie!


I was so excited about my first visit to Disneyland and my first trip to California! My DH & I had just spent 4 glorious nights on our first Disney Cruise on the Disney Wonder and now we were off to California for our first trip to Disneyland!

It was a whirlwind trip because we got off of the ship, drove home, packed, and then we were off to the Orlando Airport to catch our flight to Cali! I found out about the "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" World Premiere in March and knew I had to be there!

We already had the Disney Cruise booked for my birthday, so we knew we would only be able to make a quick trip to Disneyland, but it would be worth it! I've wanted to go to Disneyland my entire life because I've always wanted to see where it really all began and walk where Walt Disney once did. I knew it was going to be such a wonderful and magical experience to walk down Main Street in Disneyland!


May 17

We booked the earliest flight we could get to California and it didn't take-off until around 7:00pm, but luckily it was a direct flight. We arrived at LAX around 9:00pm and we then had to wait to take a shuttle to Anaheim. I couldn't believe how cold it was in California and I quickly realized I hadn't packed the appropriate clothes at all! I honestly thought the weather in California would be a lot like the weather in Florida. I was wrong!

When we hunted for a hotel to stay at for our Disneyland vacation, we quickly realized that every place was booked! We were on a budget because of our cruise, but we couldn't find any openings at any of the hotels near Disneyland. We tried the Disneyland hotels and even the affordable hotels in very close walking distance to Disneyland, and there was nothing! I then finally found a cheap motel that seemed to be in walking distance. It was very cheap, so I was expecting some type of roach motel. I didn't really care because I knew it was a quick trip and it was all for one very important purpose, Johnny Depp!

We didn't arrive to the roach motel until after 11:00pm and we were dropped off in the dark parking lot. I felt like I was in a 1950's time warp! We were standing there in the parking lot with all of our luggage around us and ringing on a buzzer outside a glass window. A man appeared from behind a door and came to the window. We completed our room check-in by sliding everything through a small opening in the window. We knew this was going to be interesting!

We grabbed out luggage and hauled it up the stairs to our open motel. We walked in our room and realized the place most likely hadn't been refurbished or cleaned, since 1975. It is what I was expected and I had my bottle of Febreze ready to spray! One of our bags of luggage was just filled with sheets for the bed, our own pillows, towels, and washcloths. I was ready for anything!

I was quite terrified of the room and it didn't help that DH & I had just seen the movie, "Vacancy," a few weeks before. Has anyone else seen this movie? Our motel room looked just like that one! I'm not even joking! Unlike, the couple in the movie, we had actually planned this stop!

There was even an attic door on the ceiling and a window above the tub. The attic door creped me out and DH noticed the window above the tub was unlocked. We were going to make it work and I was just ready to go to sleep, so I could wake-up and get out of there!

That night I barely slept at all! I kept thinking someone was going to jump down from the attic and the noise from the highway outside our window didn’t help either. Did I mention the door and walls were paper-thin!? It was quite an experience! I curled up in the middle of the bed as close as I could to DH, who, of course, was fast asleep! I had to just keep thinking..."Disneyland, Johnny Depp, Disneyland, Johnny Depp..." And...that made it all worth it!

I slept for about two and a half hours before the alarm went off. We had to get up early, so we could be at Disneyland as soon as it opened! We had very little time to try to see all of Disneyland, including Disney's California Adventure!


Get me outta here and take me to Disneyland!!!

 

[PirateKitty]

Oh my gosh, I've stayed in motels like that before. I think they're the ones that can be rented by the hour. But hey, if its for Disneyland and Johnny Depp...totally worth it. Sometimes a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do. When we went to Disneyland (ages ago) we stayed in a place not so different from what you describe. But they didn't speak English and we needed 2 separate rooms, they kept trying to give us 4 because they thought we all needed "separate" rooms.

So glad to see the new trippie! Can't wait to hear the rest!

 

[tinkerbell87512]

Ugh that hotel sounds awful. Now I'm use to the Disney hotels with the themes and everything so a roach motel wouldnt be my cup of tea either. It sounds wicked creepy with the door on the celing in the bathroom and all. But like Piratekitty said you gotta do what you gotta do for Johnny! I can't wait to see how you liked Disneyland and how the premier was! Looking forward to reading more as usual!!!

 

[apirateslife4evr]

OMG, that sounds EXACTLY like the place that I stayed at in 2005 when I did MY DL trip I had my own pillow and pillowcase AND I slept in my sweats. I never walked on the floor in my bare feet....I did not want to touch that carpet

OOH, how exciting.....you're at DL !!! Can't wait to hear more !!!!

 

[duncanssweetie]

Yippppeeee, you're doing another trippee !!!!

That Motel would totally creep me out as well. I don't "do" scary movies but DD14 Caylin and DH Brandon LOVE them, can't get scary enough for them, kwim?
So I haven't seen vacancy, only heard about it, but I am still sure that I would have been creeped out. The girls and I stopped at a Holiday Inn Express on a road trip while Brandon was deployed and IT even had a few little things that gave me the heeby geebies, so sometimes it's not just the "no tell, Motels" kwim?
but on to more exciting things..... I'm reading this one with my DD5 , Lexie, who is totally IN LOVE with Capt Jack, and we are looking forward to more. We love all your trippees and are big fans, so we know we are in for a treat.

I'm off to check out the cruise trippeee, "see" you over there.

 

[as dreamers do]

Yikes! I've stayed in a motel similar to the one you described once before. Luckily, I was armed with my bottle of Febreze too! But it sounds like a small price to pay for an inaugural trip to Disneyland, not to mention the hunky piece of man that is Johnny Depp.

Can't wait for more!

 

[jbmom]

Now that's dedication. If you were willing to stay at a hotel like that to see Captain Jack! From your description I could picture the hotel and will not be staying there or anywhere like it anytime soon! I can't wait to read more Lindsey!

 

[luvfigment]

YAY!!! I can't wait to start reading it! It will have to wait an hour though b/c I have a date with DFi on the web cam! Looking forward to reading it though, your Trippies are always the best!

 

[CriminyCrafft]

Whoohooooo! I found your two new trippies today! Loved your Cruise TR and now I can't wait to read this one! Thanks so much for sharing with us. I swear, you are living my dream life.

Love your dark hair by the way!

 

[disneycutie84]

Yippie! I'm so excited to hear about your Disneyland trip! You and I were there around the same time because my mom and I went up to Disneyland the day after the Pirates premier for my college graduation trip.
Sorry about the motel! Ahhh, the sacrifices that must be made for disney.

 

[tksbaskets]

Thanks for the link to your new trippie! We are planning a trip to DL next June and can't wait to share your adventure. The hotel sounds and looks like the 'Bates Motel' from Pyscho. You are too young to remember that creepy movie I cracked up when you said you brought your own sheets. How many nights are 'we' spending at the no-tell motel?
T

 

[luvfigment]

OK I am all up to date...that is too funny that you brought your own sheets, towels etc. I would have been freaked out by the attic door also. Can't wait to read about your days in Disneyland and of the Premier Of POC 3. Hope you are having a great vacation in NC!!!

 

[Disney-Kim]

can't wait to hear more....oh the room sounds so awful. too bad you couldn't move anywhere else.

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

Oh my gosh, I've stayed in motels like that before. I think they're the ones that can be rented by the hour. But hey, if its for Disneyland and Johnny Depp...totally worth it. Sometimes a girls gotta do what a girls gotta do. When we went to Disneyland (ages ago) we stayed in a place not so different from what you describe. But they didn't speak English and we needed 2 separate rooms, they kept trying to give us 4 because they thought we all needed "separate" rooms.

So glad to see the new trippie! Can't wait to hear the rest!

Haha....so true, so true! Oh, I'd do it all again for Johnny and you couldn't stop me! Well, they barely spoke English there either! DH went to try to get more towel because the toilet over-flowed! Oh wow....another thing to add to my Trippie! Let's just say, they didn't understand and we didn't get any towels!

Ugh that hotel sounds awful. Now I'm use to the Disney hotels with the themes and everything so a roach motel wouldnt be my cup of tea either. It sounds wicked creepy with the door on the celing in the bathroom and all. But like Piratekitty said you gotta do what you gotta do for Johnny! I can't wait to see how you liked Disneyland and how the premier was! Looking forward to reading more as usual!!!

Disneyland is definitely different from WDW, but I still love it! I am hoping to go back this December or January and we are going to stay at one of the Disneyland Hotels. Hopefully, they all won't be booked this time! I really love the Disneyland Hotel! It's got a great retro Disney vibe!

OMG, that sounds EXACTLY like the place that I stayed at in 2005 when I did MY DL trip I had my own pillow and pillowcase AND I slept in my sweats. I never walked on the floor in my bare feet....I did not want to touch that carpet

OOH, how exciting.....you're at DL !!! Can't wait to hear more !!!!

I wore my Crocs the entire time and would not take them off! I slept in my socks too! My Captain Jack Sparrow socks to be exact! Sounds like the same lovely place!

Yippppeeee, you're doing another trippee !!!!

That Motel would totally creep me out as well. I don't "do" scary movies but DD14 Caylin and DH Brandon LOVE them, can't get scary enough for them, kwim?
So I haven't seen vacancy, only heard about it, but I am still sure that I would have been creeped out. The girls and I stopped at a Holiday Inn Express on a road trip while Brandon was deployed and IT even had a few little things that gave me the heeby geebies, so sometimes it's not just the "no tell, Motels" kwim?
but on to more exciting things..... I'm reading this one with my DD5 , Lexie, who is totally IN LOVE with Capt Jack, and we are looking forward to more. We love all your trippees and are big fans, so we know we are in for a treat.

I'm off to check out the cruise trippeee, "see" you over there.

Oh, you will love this Trippie then! Disneyland was amazing! I just loved it! It was everything I thought it would be and more! The POTC Premiere was a dream come true! Oh, Johnny! Okay, I must get back to writing the Trippie!

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

Yikes! I've stayed in a motel similar to the one you described once before. Luckily, I was armed with my bottle of Febreze too! But it sounds like a small price to pay for an inaugural trip to Disneyland, not to mention the hunky piece of man that is Johnny Depp.

Can't wait for more!

Isn't Febreze amazing!? I was spraying the place down every minute we were in there! We kept our clothes packed in our suitcases and I was even Febreze'ing all of that! It was a small price to pay, literally! Oh, what I do to make a dream come true!

Now that's dedication. If you were willing to stay at a hotel like that to see Captain Jack! From your description I could picture the hotel and will not be staying there or anywhere like it anytime soon! I can't wait to read more Lindsey!

I've been dedicated to Johnny, since I was 8 years old and first saw "Edward Scissorhands!" I knew this may be one of my very few chances to see the man in person and I was making it happen!

Whoohooooo! I found your two new trippies today! Loved your Cruise TR and now I can't wait to read this one! Thanks so much for sharing with us. I swear, you are living my dream life.

Love your dark hair by the way!

Awwww...thanks! Well, I am not too crazy about my dark hair because I went to get it colored a little darker and she literally turned it black! Luckily, a lot of it has washed out and worn away, but it's too dark for me! I am hoping to turn back into my blonde-self soon! It's almost hard for me to recognize myself! I may be blonde by this weekend!

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

Yippie! I'm so excited to hear about your Disneyland trip! You and I were there around the same time because my mom and I went up to Disneyland the day after the Pirates premier for my college graduation trip.
Sorry about the motel! Ahhh, the sacrifices that must be made for disney.

Well, I will make any sacrifice for Johnny! Oh, and I did! We were still there the day after the premiere and spent the day at California Adventure! We were at Disneyland that night for the fireworks!

Thanks for the link to your new trippie! We are planning a trip to DL next June and can't wait to share your adventure. The hotel sounds and looks like the 'Bates Motel' from Pyscho. You are too young to remember that creepy movie I cracked up when you said you brought your own sheets. How many nights are 'we' spending at the no-tell motel?
T

Oh, I know "Psycho" quite well and I am a big Hitchcock fan! I'm a Film Major after all! My favorite Hitchcock film would be "Rear Window." Love it! Yeah, don't worry, that nightmare was going over in my head the first night in the motel too! We were there for 4 nights!

OK I am all up to date...that is too funny that you brought your own sheets, towels etc. I would have been freaked out by the attic door also. Can't wait to read about your days in Disneyland and of the Premier Of POC 3. Hope you are having a great vacation in NC!!!

I was so glad I was prepared! I don't know what we would have done! The bed felt like sleeping on a piece of hard wood and it looked like there were cigarette burns in the sheets! But, I promise the Trippie gets more interesting! I'm having a great time in NC! I'm getting a lot of free time to DIS it!

 

[Leggyb]

Oh dear! If you don't mind me asking, what hotel was it? (I apologize if you already mentioned the name and I just didn't catch it.) I would like to know so I never end up staying there. I'm a budget girl so if something is a good deal I usually am all over it.. but YIKES! Did you feel as though the febreze helped at all? I'm a big febreze fan.. I take it with me on all my vacations!

P.S. I am loving your trip report!

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

Disneyland
May 18- Friday


Preparing for the Premiere!


I was so happy to hear my alarm go off and know it was time to get out of that motel! We woke up and got dressed quickly, so we could catch the Anaheim Shuttle to Disneyland! We were about one mile away from Disneyland, but we found out about the shuttle and it was a great deal! It was very affordable and safe too. It's a great service for all of the tourists around the area visiting Disneyland. It was quite chilly in California and DH & I only packed one jacket apiece. I was pretty exhausted, especially after not getting any sleep, a very long flight, and the time difference was throwing me off.

The shuttle arrived right on time and I was thrilled to be driving away from the roach motel for the day! We had to get to Disneyland as soon as it opened because it was going to be a short day for us. I already had a plan of attack for the "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" Premiere, which was the next day. We would be arriving to Disneyland the next day for the premiere at 3:00am! That's right, 3:00am!

That meant DH & I needed to get back to the motel a little early, so we could at least get a few hours of sleep before we spent the entire day waiting at Disneyland for 15 hours for the premiere! Oh, and we knew we were in for it!

I saw the Disneyland entrance from the window of the shuttle and we were dropped off in the shuttle loading/unloading zone. We made our way up the walkway and saw Disney's California Adventure to the left and Disneyland to the right. It was so neat to see the two theme parks so close together!

We got in line outside Disneyland to wait for the park to open. We had about 20 minutes to go and I was jumping up and down with excitement! I had been waiting my entire life for this moment! I couldn't believe the day was finally here! I WAS GOING TO DISNEYLAND!!!

First things first, we had to go buy tickets for the "Pirates of the Caribbean" World Premiere tomorrow, so we could quickly get in!

The time had finally arrived!

WELCOME TO THE HAPPIEST PLACE ON EARTH! WHERE IT ALLL BEGAN!

We entered Disneyland and I couldn't believe I was standing where the legend, my idol, Walt Disney once stood! It was such an amazing and magical feeling!

We made our way down Main Street and I couldn't believe how fabulous all the shops and bakeries were! The food was all gourmet and seemed to be a little more fancy than what I was use to in Walt Disney World.

The first thing was to go ride Pirates of the Caribbean, of course! I was so excited to go on the original ride and know that we were actually going to the premiere the next day!

Then, we saw all they had already begun to set-up for the "Pirates of the Caribbean: At World's End" World Premiere! The seating, stage, and movie screen were already up and ready for the premiere!

I could barely contain myself because of all the excitement and I was ready to begin our Disneyland trip with the original Pirates of the Caribbean ride!

I was so surprised with how different the ride was from the one in Walt Disney World and I loved it! It takes you through the Blue Bayou Restaurant first and then you entered the Pirate's Lair, which I loved! There is even a skeleton behind a bar enjoying a drink!

The ride was much longer than the one in WDW and even has an extra drop!

It is also great because you get much closer to Captain Jack Sparrow near the end of the ride and you know I enjoyed that!

Continued...

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

New Orleans Square & Critter Country


It wasn't crowded at Disneyland at all yet, so DH & I were able to get around pretty quickly. Disneyland was absolutely beautiful and I just loved New Orleans Square. They had some very unique shops there that were definitely worth checking out.

My favorite shop was Le Bat en Rouge, which had some really neat Haunted Mansion and Pirate themed items.

Our next stop was the Haunted Mansion! Disneyland's Haunted Mansion is entirely different than the one in Walt Disney World and I was impressed! The mansion was very spooky looking and the details in the gardens were fantastic! I thought the Pet Cemetery here was much for creepy and detailed compared to the one at WDW.

Disneyland's Haunted Mansion ride was amazing and actually scary! I had my mouth opened because I was so shocked and impressed with the special effects! The part with the Bride in the attic is just awesome! It is so creepy and I just loved it! I know they are revamping the Haunted Mansion at WDW and I really hope they plan on improving it like the one at Disneyland!

We then made our way over to Critter Country, where Splash Mountain is and the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride!

Disneyland's Splash Mountain is entirely different and I didn't even recognize Brer Rabbit! He doesn't even look like Brer Rabbit; I thought that was a little odd! He look like a regular light brown fluffy bunny and it was a little weird. Here you actually sit in a smaller log and you sit one in front of the other. The seats are for one person and not two, like at WDW. The log is much smaller and you are pretty much right in the water! I was in the front and every time we dropped down I was almost in the water! At one point, the log took a dip and it was like I got a bucket of water in my face! It was freezing cold outside and I wasn't expecting this! The ride was much faster and we barely could even see what was going on around us with the "Song of the South" scenes because we shot through the ride so fast. The drop was much more intense to me at Disneyland and we were drenched! The log literally hits and goes under the water!
It looked like DH & I had just gotten out of the pool and our day had just begun at Disneyland!


Continued...

 

[Fairy_Tale_Bride]

Adventureland


We made our way over to Adventureland!

The Indiana Jones ride was awesome! I absolutely loved it and the cars are like the ones used in Dinosaur at Disney's Animal Kingdom. Indiana Jones is actually there in the ride and it was a blast! Be prepared to watch out for that rolling boulder!

The one thing DH & I really noticed about Disneyland is the great detail and perfection in the outside of their rides. There was a lot more detail and work put into the outside of the rides for their "look," than there is at Walt Disney World. Nothing in Disneyland looks "just like a building." There was so exception with the Enchanted Tiki Room!

It was also very neat here because they actually sold the Dole Whips where the entrance to the Tiki Room is, so you can go inside to wait for the show, buy a Dole Whip, and eat it while you wait to enter the Enchanted Tiki Room! I was freezing, but I had to try a Dole Whip in Disneyland! Now, I must say the Dole Whips here were not as tasty as the ones in WDW. It was a bit icier and not as creamy as the WDW Dole Whip, but it was still good!

The original Tiki Room show is still showing in Disneyland and I couldn't wait to see it! I had seen the original show many times at Walt Disney World as a child, but it had been a long time! I couldn't remember it and I was so excited to see Walt's original show!

I really enjoyed it and I had totally forgotten about the enchanted fountain! I loved singing along to the songs and I got to enjoy my Dole Whip, while we watched the show.

There is also a wonderful Aladdin show in Adventureland!

It was a cute and funny show with a lot of great audience participation!

Next Stop...

Fantasyland!!!