DLR & DCA November 2014 TR—1 Toddler, 2 Gparents, and 3 Very Tired 30-somethings

[spcmtn mama]

Hello!

This is my first trip report. I wanted to look back at our November DL/DCA 3-day trip and share a sketch of what we did and some of my observations. I got so much help from this site and enjoyed the planning process so much more because of it, and I hope this TR gives back a bit.

The Basics:

Who: My husband and me (30s) with DD who was 1 week away from 2 at the time of our trip, plus my sister (30), plus our parents who are in their 60s.

Why: Our daughter’s first trip to Disneyland! As background my family went once a year from when I was 2-14 and we have lots of great family memories.

Where: We stayed at the Sheraton Anaheim and used points for half our stay, we also shared a room with my sister. I enjoyed the hotel and the rooms were huge, plenty of room for three adults and a toddler. As for the parks, we used 3 day park hoppers, and hopped to DCA 2 of the 3 days.

How: We flew into SNA, hired a private driver who provided the car seat for DD, and ended up taking a taxi to the nearby Target after we landed and checked into our hotel. Otherwise, we didn't need a rental car or other transportation besides the Sheraton shuttle to and from the parks.

Extras: I did pre-purchase the photo pass plus. Was it worth it? Um, yes, barely. It was Very difficult to corral everyone together for anything ever, as we will see below, so we didn’t get a lot of group pics, but the ones I do have, I love. I also came prepared with cute Disney outfits for my DD for each day (mostly tshirts I got at Old Navy and Target) and some $1 bin Disney coloring play packs and Disney glow necklaces and wands, which were fun to bring out during the trip.

Budget: We were being budget-y this trip. As you will see we utilized coupons for dinners a few nights, and we shared a hotel room and used points, brought some snacks and fruit with us, etc. but I was actually pleasantly surprised by the prices and how much we spent. I had budgeted $150 for two adults and DD/day for all food/drink/shopping and we came under every day.

Next up my day-by-day TR!

 

[spcmtn mama]

Day 1: Wednesday, November 19

We took the first shuttle from the Sheraton, which left 30 min before park open everyday. I prepared to have no set plan this day. With a 23 month old and our first multi-generational vacation I decided to see how things went, but had a basic idea of what we should do (spoiler alert--we did almost none of it).

One of my biggest worries about this trip was addressed as soon as we walked through the right hand tunnel and saw Minnie Mouse! (Mickey, Pluto, Minnie and I think Goofy and Donald were all there in their holiday best to greet guests first thing). How would my Minnie obsessed DD react to seeing characters in person?! Well, when it was her turn she ran up to Minnie with her arms straight in the air for a big hug. Disney magic at its finest! She did pretty well with characters the rest of the trip.

We headed towards the castle, and Fantasyland, only to get sidetracked when DG (dear grandma) veered off towards the Snow White fountain. This was the first of what would be a common occurrence—a group of 5 adults, one usually carrying DD another pushing the stroller, trying to get to destination A, inevitably sidetracked by someone going to destinations B-Z. Very annoying and I quickly realized we would be spending most of our time wandering. But, the fountain was actually cool, because the Wicked Queen was there and she was hilarious.

We then wandered through Fantasyland and got in line for Dumbo. My DD’s first Disneyland ride and she loved it! Then to Mad Hatter for the requisite ear hat with embroidered name.

Next we went to the Matterhorn, where we got a child swap pass and stood in a longish line. I haven’t been since they changed the seats and I really like the change. I didn’t find the ride too jerky, but my father did.

Then all of sudden its lunch time, to the little red wagon we go. Why are these the best corn dogs ever?? What is their secret??

I think after lunch I went into the baby care center right next to the red wagon. If you have a child in diapers you must check this place out at least once. Its very cool. Even better if you want a nice, quiet place to nurse, or so it seemed.

We then split up and half of us went on Space Mountain with FPs that DS ran and got when we were on Dumbo. The other half of the group took DD towards Critter Country. We met up near Splash Mountain and went on Winnie the Pooh. DD hated this ride and later hated Alice in Wonderland and we then stopped trying to get her to go on dark rides. DS and I then got in the single rider line for Splash Mountain. We basically walked on and ended up together in the log and hardly got wet. A win!

Next, we were walking back towards the Sheraton shuttles for an afternoon break when DD passed out in the stroller. We panic, mildly. Stroller naps are not in the plan! But we send DH and the Gparents back to the hotel to rest and DS and I stay with the stroller and sleeping DD. We found a shady bench across from the hub and eat a tigger tail we picked up by Winnie the Pooh, drink a cold drink, people watch, listen to the holiday music, and have a wonderful break.

I’ll take this opportunity to say we did this the next two days, without DD. DS and I would skip naptime and stay together shopping and sitting and eating something outrageous (the best thing we had was that tigger tail!). It was awesome bonding time and I would do it again—but three days opening and closing the parks was Exhausting!

DD woke up early and we walked all the way to IASM hoping she would go back to sleep. When she did not, we hopped on IASM and she loved it. Note to parents whose kids don’t like dark rides—IASM doesn’t count. I loved the holiday overlay here.

We then went to the Royal Hall. This is new from the last time I was at DL in 2011 and I wanted to check it out. It was time for DD to have a snack and we bought a garlic cheese bagel twist thing at the snack cart there. It was pretty quiet as there was a performance going on. We sat under the Rapunzel tower and ate our snack and hung out for a bit. It was actually perfect because DD could look in and see the performance going on at the stage or look to see Rapunzel (and later Merida) greeting guests but she could also eat her snack and run around like an almost 2 year old nut.

The line was very short for the princesses so we got in line to meet Cinderella, Snow White and Ariel. My girly girl was so excited to meet all the princesses and kept showing them her sparkly shoes, and then they would show her their shoes—it was very cute. This meet and greet is so well done, from the lighting to the photographers, we really enjoyed it and some of my favorites pictures are from here.

It was then 4:45 and we decided to scope out a spot for the parade (I think it started at 5:30). We got what I think it’s a fantastic parade spot (walking towards IASW, right past the first IASW decorated tower on your left are a set of steps). We had a great view of the lights on IASW, great views of the parade, lots of room for our stroller, etc. We met up with the rest of our party here. Parade was cute, our first time seeing the holiday parade, and DD was entranced. The dollar store glow necklace and bracelets were also a big hit with DD—and ok, DS and I wore some as well.

As soon as the parade passed us we went to the monorail and took it to dinner at Earl of Sandwich. We all had free sandwich coupons and it was the perfect quick bite before the park closed at 8. I should mention we went to Tortilla Joes in DTD the night before and it was surprisingly good—also I can highly recommend the jalapeño margaritas.

After dinner my dad, DS and I hopped back on the monorail at 7:15 (park close was at 8pm) and used our child swap pass for the Matterhorn. This ride is SO much better at night!!

We then hurried over to BTMRR and asked the CM at the entrance what the wait was. She hesitated, oddly, and then said 20 min. Well it was about 7:30 at this point, so we went on anyways. It turned out the line was being held with a huge gap in it so what looked like a 20 min line was really about 5 min?? What was the deal here??? The CM at the front of the line was clearly lying to us. Very odd. Well, we then got another dose of Disney magic when the fireworks started right when we got into the train car. If you can time this right, its amazing and I highly recommend!! We then walked over to Pirates and walked on. It was park closing when we got out, so we headed back to the shuttle via the Emporium and a quick (30 min or so) shopping trip. It is so nice that the stores on main street stay open an extra hour.

Phew—day 1 was over and we felt like we went on no rides and did very little and yet we were exhausted! DS and I have been to DL and few times the last few years as a small group of adults and we had gotten used to a very different pace then traveling with a toddler and grandparents.

Next up, day 2—Early Entry Disaster! And our toddler’s favorite ride revealed!

 

[spcmtn mama]

Day 2—Thursday, November 20

Early Entry Day! Sort of. For some people. But not for us.

We took the shuttle from our hotel that left at 8:30 (the park opened at 9am for early entry). We got to Dland at 8:35. Now, after reading these boards I did recommend to our group that we walk from the hotel and get there earlier, but no one was game. So, we ended up in very very long security lines and very, very long park entry lines and didn’t get in the park until 9:15. As far as I could tell the only advantage to us would have been getting onto Peter Pan, but as my DD hated dark rides, its probably best we didn’t get on.

Instead, we went on Alice in Wonderland (DD was not a fan) and then DD asked to go on the teacups! We took our 23 month old daredevil on them and she loved it. This ended up being her favorite ride of the trip.

DH and I then went on Star Tours and DS and the rest of the group went towards Adventureland, which was about to open up. DS (sister) got FP for Indy and we all met at Jungle Cruise. The holiday overlay here was fun and I wished we had gotten back for a second trip.

It was then time to use our “fast passes” at Indiana Jones. We were excited to go and get over to DCA by 11-ish so we could have some time there before DD went back for a nap. Since we had DD, our plan was to use the FP for 3 of us and then the other two adults would go. Grandpa and DH stayed with DD and DS, DM and I ended up in the regular line after passing a few people. Instead of a 25 min wait—we had a 20 min wait! What?? What kind of fast pass is this? By the time we were done DH and my dad didn’t have time to go on the ride and missed out this trip. It was very disappointing. Did we do something wrong? If we had gotten a child swap would it have been different? I want to also mention that during this long wait, my daughter was walking around the shop across from Indy and a CM gave her a very cute Cinderella button to wear and my DD was thrilled. Disney magic…

Over to DCA

We park hopped and as we walked down Buena Vista the Red Car Trolley show was starting. We stood and watched and it gave DD a really great chance to see Mickey sing and dance very close up. On the way to the pier area for lunch we saw that there were still FP available for RSR, returning at 5:10. We then all got clam chowder in bread bowls, because we are boring, but there is a great selection of food and nice seating here. It was our first time in DCA since 2003 and I was really impressed with all the changes/additions.

After lunch, DH and DD went back with the grandparents to take naps, and DS and I went on the Little Mermaid and Soarin. We picked up WOC passes (yellow) and then DS and I then grabbed a bench near Starbucks and watched Zoot Suit Goofy and the band that comes around and plays near here—I cannot remember their name, but it was great to have a show to watch while we had coffee and our naptime treat of the day (I think we had mickey marshmallows from Trolley Treats). We then got to browse and look at Christmas ornaments in peace in the nearly empty shops on Buena Vista.

Having had our break we decided to check out Radiator Springs just for fun, and we ended up getting in the single rider line for RSR since it was so short. A 10 min wait later we had our first ride on RSR—what a great ride!

It was then time to meet up with the rest of our group and go to Disney Jr. live. This was so fun for DD who knows Mickey & co. and Sofia the First and Doc McStuffins. Totally worth it if you have a Disney Jr. fan in your group.

We had a little time until our RSR FP and so we walked through A Bugs Land and did the Heimlich Chew Chew train and managed to get a great group photo by the Photopass photographer.

We did our RSR FP ride, which everyone loved, including those in our group who don’t do roller coasters.

It was then time for dinner, and we had reservations at Napoli in DTD. The pizza here was great, and they had pea risotto on the kids menu, which DD loved. I had a birthday club coupon, which was nice, though even without it I thought Napoli was a reasonably priced place, all things considered.

After dinner DS and I returned to DCA, stopped at Ghirardelli for milkshakes, which we then took to the seating area for WOC. I thought it was hard to see some of the effects from the yellow section right past the Little Mermaid ride, it seemed unless you were directly in front some were hard to make out. It was a cute show though and I’m glad we checked it out.

And that’s the end of day 2. The next and last day we met Mickey and went to a character breakfast—review to follow! Hopefully by the end of this trip report I will have enough posts to be allowed to post some photos from our trip!