TimandLesley Take On Disneyland - We're BACK BABY! Update 10/9

So excited to follow along! I used to love your old reports...I was reading them when I was barely in my 20s and now I have my own family. Your kiddos have turned out to be absolutely beautiful! And wow, Tim looks great! (So do you!) I hope to get my family out to Disneyland someday.
 
Great start !!

Love That Laurens number one happy place is in airport. Such a good reason !

Shame your dinner took so long but that cake looks amazing

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Thanks for reading along and posting. That cake WAS amazing!!! Yum!

Wonderful hotel room and OMG that cake!

Looking forward to more!
The cake was very very good. Luke had the creme brule too (didn't take a pic of that) and that was yummy too. Thanks for reading along and posting ; )

So excited to follow along! I used to love your old reports...I was reading them when I was barely in my 20s and now I have my own family. Your kiddos have turned out to be absolutely beautiful! And wow, Tim looks great! (So do you!) I hope to get my family out to Disneyland someday.
Glad you are following along and found us again. Crazy how time flies doesn't it. Thank you so much, you are so nice. Yes, so proud of Tim and all of his life changes, he is an inspiration. I hope you get to experience Disneyland, perhaps by the end of this report you'll want to even more : )
 
Great start, I loved following along on facebook while you were on your trip. Now we get the rest of the story.

Best wishes on the start of your new job.
 
Can't wait to read along! We took out first family trip to Disneyland in April for 7 days, and had a great time :)
 


Great start, I loved following along on facebook while you were on your trip. Now we get the rest of the story.

Best wishes on the start of your new job.
Thanks, it's been crazy starting a new job in the summer (I haven't worked in the summer since high school and college) but I love it. Thanks for following along. We leave to go to Michigan tomorrow so I'll try and put another installment out before we go.

Can't wait to read along! We took out first family trip to Disneyland in April for 7 days, and had a great time :)
Isn't it wonderful there!?! Glad you got to experience it yourself. Thanks for reading along and posting.
 
Day 2- First Disneyland Day
So I want to start off by saying that since we have written trip reports here on the Dis YEARS ago a lot has changed with the photo uploads, it keeps saying that most of my pics are too large to post which is frustrating and it will only allow me 10 photos at a time so I'm doing my best. If anyone has any tips please share.
On with Day 2.
I was anxious to go on the first day and my family was still sleeping so I ran downstairs to the coffee place (by Goofy's kitchen) and grabbed coffee and bagels. It was SO nice, the lady working there gave me 2 free coffees and 2 free hot chocolates so that was a cheap breakfast.
This is what two kids excited to go to Disneyland for the first time looks like:
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Rookie Disneyland mistake, I didn't look at times guides and just assumed it opened at 9 am, so we got there at 9 am thinking it was rope drop and the parks had been open since 8 am. OOPS!
It was great walking down Main Street together and making fun of the teenie tiny castle. It's been a while since we've been in the parks with traditional fast passes so it threw our strategies off a bit and it took some on the spot planning/negotiating. We went immediately to Tomorrowland and fast passed Hyperspace Mountain (re themed for Star Wars) and hopped onto Buzz (only like a 10 minute wait)
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We had fun on Buzz, but it's so different than Disney World, the guns come out and work differently so we didn't score to well on our first round here.

Then Tim was REALLY excited to ride the Indiana Jones ride so we headed over to Adventure land and rode that, we lucked out because it had broken down that morning and when we got there it was JUST opening back up again so we walked right on. The entire family loved that, Tim said it was his favorite Disney ride of all time. It's basically like the Dinosaur ride in Animal Kingdom but with great Indiana Jones theming.
After that we headed to do Pirates, which was just GREAT. We walked right on. The Pirates ride in Disneyland puts the one in Disney World to shame, we all loved it. After that we walked right onto Haunted Mansion. Loved this ride here too, a lot of little added things that they don't have in Disney World. When we came off of Haunted Mansion it was time to snag another fast pass so we did my favorite : Splash Mountain.
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It was kinda nice to have paper fast passes back in our hands again this trip.
After Splash we took a pit stop and enjoyed some Dole Whip Floats to cool off (did I mention that this day was RECORD heat in LA with the real feel being 115 degrees! YEAH, it was REALLY hot!
After we cooled down with our Dole Whips we headed back to Tomorrowland to use our Fast Pass for HyperSpace Mountain
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I LOVE this ride!!!!! I love how the cars are traditional roller coaster type cars instead of the bobsled type feel in Disney World. The Star Wars theming they added was fantastic. Lauren and I LOVED it. Tim and Luke said they got beat up a bit : )
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Can you tell how much Tim and Luke liked the ride by the ride photo. HAHAHAHAHA
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After that I was telling the family about the Single Rider Passes you can use at the Matterhorn Bobsleds because currently the line was 50 minutes and we didn't want to do that since we had Splash Fast Passes soon. So I worked my magic (for once I knew some strategy for Disneyland) and we used the Single rider line and got on right away. Lauren and I lucked out because we were seated together.
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I just love that ride, all 4 of us loved this one. Such fun!!!
Then Lauren begged to do Small World so we headed right over there
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That was only like a 10 minute wait but the line was outside in the direct sun light so we were super excited when the ride took us indoors : ) I LOVE SMALL WORLD IN DISNEYLAND! I love the hidden Disney characters in each country and hunting for them, we all enjoyed it.
By this time we were hungry for lunch so we headed back towards the Frontierland to grab lunch, we just ate at a Burger Place (name is escaping me) with a Bear theme right by Splash Mountain, food was ok., not stellar but good enough to fill our hungry bellies. Then we headed over to ride my favorite ride: Splash.
We attempted a family selfie (fail) on the ride:
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After we got soaked on Splash, it felt SO good on a super hot day, we decided to head back to the hotel after a full day and take a swim at the pool before getting ready for our big night back at the parks.
So we headed to the front of the parks and said "See ya later" to Walt:
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Stay tuned, tonight we have a Blue Bayou Dinner package for the Paint the Night Parade, lots to share.
Thanks for reading/posting!
FOR THE NEXT INSTALLMENT CLICK HERE!
 
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As far as the photos, yes, I have to resize all mine to 728x1024 before they can be added. And yes, if you add directly to the post, 10 photos max so I just "continued in next post" once I get to 10. I thought I counted more than 10 in the TRs where the posters use a photo sharing service like shutterfly or snapfish or some other ones but since I don't do that I truly don't know.

Glad everyone was so excited! I haven't been since 2002 so I'm sure there are so many changes! I do like that the rides there are not exact replicas of WDW. It's nice to have things that are specific to each.

I love the Matterhorn! I really wish WDW had a version!

Enjoy your vacation with the fam!
 


Welcome back, Leslie! I'm glad you had such a great trip! I haven't seen the new decor at DLH yet. It looks so nice, and I love the little kiss good night. Your first dsy is off to a great start!


p.s. I was able to sign with a new agency. Much better experience.
 
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I'm following again! I have followed all the rest of your amazing reports, so can't wait to read more! Oh, and welcome back lol!
 
Popped back in to see what I had missed. Glad I am not too far behind. What a great deal on breakfast. Their space mountain sounds so cool. Love to check out Indiana Ride. Trent would love that.

Sounds like a good day, but hot. Small World sounds so neat. Wish ours had disney characters in it.

I am guessing you are busy with school year starting. Hope you write more soon when you get a free moment
 
Looking forward to hearing more! I know everyone enjoyed being able to do so much so quickly!
 
Looking forward to hearing more! I know everyone enjoyed being able to do so much so quickly!
Thanks for posting. So sorry. Yes, I started a new job at a local University that is year round. Working in the summer is new to me and it's been very busy. Sorry for my absence.

As far as the photos, yes, I have to resize all mine to 728x1024 before they can be added. And yes, if you add directly to the post, 10 photos max so I just "continued in next post" once I get to 10. I thought I counted more than 10 in the TRs where the posters use a photo sharing service like shutterfly or snapfish or some other ones but since I don't do that I truly don't know.

Glad everyone was so excited! I haven't been since 2002 so I'm sure there are so many changes! I do like that the rides there are not exact replicas of WDW. It's nice to have things that are specific to each.

I love the Matterhorn! I really wish WDW had a version!

Enjoy your vacation with the fam!
Thanks, definitely getting used to the new way the TR's have to be written on here. Yes, many changes I'm sure since 2002, you gotta go back. Matterhorn is such fun, I wish they did too!

Welcome back, Leslie! I'm glad you had such a great trip! I haven't seen the new decor at DLH yet. It looks so nice, and I love the little kiss good night. Your first dsy is off to a great start!


p.s. I was able to sign with a new agency. Much better experience.

Glad that worked out for you. Yes, great trip. Thanks for reading/posting.

I'm following again! I have followed all the rest of your amazing reports, so can't wait to read more! Oh, and welcome back lol!
Well, welcome back, so glad you found us again.

Popped back in to see what I had missed. Glad I am not too far behind. What a great deal on breakfast. Their space mountain sounds so cool. Love to check out Indiana Ride. Trent would love that.

Sounds like a good day, but hot. Small World sounds so neat. Wish ours had disney characters in it.

I am guessing you are busy with school year starting. Hope you write more soon when you get a free moment
Hi, sorry that we haven't gotten this one up in our normal fast style. Thanks for coming back for more and reading/posting

Looking forward to hearing more! I know everyone enjoyed being able to do so much so quickly!
Yes, it was such a great trip. We were just playing a game for our family game night together and talking about how much we miss Disneyland : (
 
Thanks for your patience everyone, without further delay here is our night. We had reservations for Blue Bayou for the Paint the Night Package. We checked into dinner:
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We only had to wait a few minutes until being seated. Lauren took selfies of us as we waited (her favorite thing to do):
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The food here was really yummy. The menus lit up and we all got to pick an appetizer (we all had gumbo), an entree (we all had steak) and a desert. Here is mine:
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We had an incredible meal and our server was great. So far I was feeling really good about doing the package. It wasn't cheap. Our server came out when the meal was over and gave us our ticket for the priority seating for the Paint the Night Parade:
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After dinner we had fun in the shops in New Orleans Square, Lauren kept modeling hats for us:
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Then we headed to the Main Street Hub to check in for the parade. Everything I had read online said to get there about 15 minutes prior to the return time on the ticket, we got there and there was already a line of people by the sign waiting to get into the area:
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It's a great spot, see the roped in area facing the train station, that is where we sat. HOWEVER please take a mental image of those people right across from that area sitting on the curb that are facing the castle, on another night we got that spot, only waited about 40 minutes for the parade to start so that left a little bitter taste in our mouths for having paid so much for the location. So my advice for the parade if you go before it's gone (so freaking sad it's gone, praying it will make it's way to WDW), then eat at Blue Bayou, it's a great meal and loved the atmosphere, but don't do the package. You can get a better spot across the way with less waiting and a view of the castle, just my honest opinion.
We took the time waiting to take some family pics before the cast members opened up the area:
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Then the rope was dropped and they let us in one family at a time to get our spot. We got a nice spot on the curb and were so excited for the parade to begin!
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Lauren had purchased these light up ears at Hollywood Studios for Osborne Lights the year before and was pleased to find out they worked with the Paint the Night parade too.
(well folks, I have a ton more pictures, and it limits me to 10 at a time, so go to next post for more : )
 
So if you haven't had an opportunity to see Paint the Night, it honestly is the best night time experience I have had in any Disney theme park (and we've had a LOT). The whole family LOVED it!
Here is Lauren and I waiting for it to start:
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The sound track, the floats, the lights, I could go on and on, this parade is AMAZING!!! If you can get out to Disneyland before it ends DO IT! If you can't, start praying it comes to Disney World to replace the Main Street Electrical Parade that is leaving.
Here are just a few of the pics we took:
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We all left singing the sound track and practically skipping back to the room afterwards. Do I regret doing the package? All in all, I guess not. Would I do it again, no. We had an amazing night, we got to eat great food, were guaranteed a perfect spot for the parade and the parade didn't disappoint, so all in all, AMAZING evening.

Coming up:
California Springs Day, Carthay Circle lunch and priority seating for World of Color
STAY TUNED!
 
We woke up the next morning SO excited to check out California Adventure together. There was so much we wanted to do and see together in this park. First on the agenda was to get to Soarin' since it had just opened up as Soarin' Over the World, we were so excited to try it. So we went through the Grand Californian hotel and as a resort guest on Disneyland property (had to show our room key) we were allowed to use that entrance into the park that put us really close to Soarin'.
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With our fast pass in hand, next on the family agenda was CARS LAND. Ever since this opened my kids (especially Luke, who like many boys was CARS obsessed when the movie came out) couldn't wait to see CARSLAND.
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My happy boy in his happy place:
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We went immediately to the Single Rider line and pretty much walked right on. Luke and Tim were being tourists in line deciding where they wanted to go next:
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An excited Lauren in line:
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I was kinda bummed our first time on the ride wasn't together, but heck, only waiting 5 minutes when the standby line was 60 minutes was SO worth it.
Afterwards we posed for some Carsland photos:
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next we wanted to get a fast pass for our next attraction before heading back to Soarin' and the kids were dying to do California Screamin, so we got that next:
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Lauren and I rode on King Tritons Carousel while the boys went to grab a snack.
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Then we headed over to the other side of the park to ride Soarin' over the World. I'm not gonna lie, it's been a while since we had to park tour with traditional fast passes, so it did cause quite a bit of family debate on what we should be doing next. Some of us just wanted to jump in lines and others wanted to get fast passes and ride other things instead.

OUT OF MY 10 PHOTO PER PASS LIMIT, SCROLL DOWN FOR NEXT INSTALLMENT CONTINUED
 
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Before we knew it we were ready to ride Soarin' over the World
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This ride was so great, we have done Soarin' over California SO many times and were excited for the change and it did not disappoint.
Our fast pass window opened up again so we grabbed one for Tower of Terror
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Then we rode Monsters Inc. I think this ride is adorable, my family thought it was "dumb" geez, tough critics : )
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After that we back tracked to go and use our fast pass at California Screaming. We LOVD this ride, like an outdoor Rockin' Roller Coaster with music and all, SO GREAT!
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It was time for our Tower of Terror fast pass so we headed back that way. I LOVE the atmosphere of this park:
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Tim decided he didn't want to ride with us, California Screamin upset his stomach a little and we were about to go to lunch right after, so the kids and I enjoyed TOT without him:
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After that it was time for our World of Color package at Carthay Circle, we were all looking forward to this meal and it didn't let us down
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I just love the history represented here. The pictures, the decor, love love love it!!
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Isn't it just beautiful!! This was taken from our table.
Here was the menu we got for lunch with the World of Color package:
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We were able to order some amazing food with the package, we splurged and paid additional for the cheese biscuits with apricot butter, sound a little weird to you, it did to us too but HEAVEN!!!!
Here is Luke at lunch:
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I'm gonna take a break from writing for now, the site is lagging REALLY bad and it's deleted what I've written about a dozen times. Up next will be tons of food porn from this incredible meal, I photographed each course : ) Then CARSLAND at night and WORLD OF COLOR!!! Stay tuned.
 
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Excited to see the update tonight! Love all the pictures and can't wait to hear about the rest of the trip. I sure hope Paint the Night moves to WDW, I would love to see it on our trip next summer!
 
Our next trip to WDW is June 2017 and I really hope PtN will come to Disney (by then). My young boys love all the Pixar stuff, so I'm sure they will love it, but I'm glad we all saw MSEP this past June.

I loved Blue Bayou when I was at DLR in 2002. Sorry the package really wasn't worth it.

I really, really want to see Carsland. Just nit sure a trip to DLR is on our radar. Because we live in GA and can drive to WDW, it's just so much easier for us to get to.

Looking forward to more!
 
You have had a action packed second day so far and we are only at lunch. I look forward to the rest of day 2. I am loving all the pictures. They make me want ready to hop in the car and headed to Disneyland.
 
Really enjoying your updates. So weird seeing you with the fastpasses. I forgot you could have two at same time. So cool.
I hope Paint the Night Parade comes to WDW one day. Looks amazing.

Was someone famous on TOT? I noticed one of their tour guides in the top left of your photo.

Great pics!!! Cant wait for more
 

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