Just Back - the Agony and the Ecstacy

[Ballybunion3]

Arrived Thursday night, late into John Wayne/OC Airport on time, but no gate was available for our plane due to rain (?) After about 45 minutes on the tarmac, we were able to deplane and quickly got our luggage and rental car - checked in and in bed at HoJos by 12:15AM. Not bad.

Friday, Feb 18: weather was predicted to be solid rain through next Wednesday (!) Today wasn't too bad - periods of heavy rain in the morning, but let up for most of the rest of the day. We did everything - Indy, PoC, HM, Pooh, BTMRR, Star Tours, Walt/Lincoln, all the FL rides multiple times. Had lunch at Blue Bayou (great shrimp/salmon spinach salad), we highly recommend it.

The temp never got above 62 degrees all week, except for the very rare sun break for a few seconds here & there. We got a good viewing spot for Fantasmic just 20 minutes before the show (the weather definitely kept the crowds away). We even had the kids do PoC while the adults kept our spot - no problems at all. The desert buffet was right in front of us, and we just stood about 5 feet behind them, & had a beautiful view - man, them were some expensive cookies!

We stayed & just kept on doing rides until after 11PM, when we could barely walk any more.

Sat Feb 19: Same weather, rained really hard in the AM, partial clearing in the afternoon. Spent most of the day in DCA - my DD-8 went on ToT for the first time - very proud of herself - we did all the best of DCA - SoC, CS, etc., but the absolute best thing we have seen was Alladdin - what a great show! A must see.

The next two days were a complete washout. We had a nice visit to Mission San Juan Capistrano on Sunday when there was a little break in the weather, but DL was a swamp for the next couple of days. We tried to do a few more things, but it was so wet & cold that it was very difficult to stay very long. The best thing we had was the very warm heated pool at HoJos and the hot tub - amazing seeing lots of people swimming in 50-60 degree rainy weather - but there were lots of people swimming!

Anyway, we cut the trip a day short because the weather was just untenable. We had done & seen everything we could possibly want to do, so we had our fill.

Highlights: Alladdin, Blue Bayou, light crowds, Trattoria in DCA for dinner (very reasonable & good salads), heated pool

Lowlights: check the weather channel

 

[maxie]

You folks arrived the day after we left! We got a lot less rain than you did but we still had 1 day that was almost a total washout because of the weather!

Despite the rain it's still nice to be a Disney isn't it!

 

[lulubelle]

Ballybunion3 - Yes, it had been out of control with the rain. I am so sorry for families like yours who have to endure all these storms. At least the first few days it cleared a bit later in the day. Hey, I live in San Juan Capistrano - fairly close to the Mission! Did you enjoy it? Did you eat in town? It is a very nice, laid back beach town. Was the traffic bad? Now you can envision my drive to DL Where did you stay? Did you like your accomodations?

Thanks for sharing.

 

[ditch4disney]

We stayed & just kept on doing rides until after 11PM, when we could barely walk any more.

How were you able to go on rides past the park closing hour?

ditch

 

[Ballybunion3]

Ballybunion3 - Yes, it had been out of control with the rain. I am so sorry for families like yours who have to endure all these storms. At least the first few days it cleared a bit later in the day. Hey, I live in San Juan Capistrano - fairly close to the Mission! Did you enjoy it? Did you eat in town? It is a very nice, laid back beach town. Was the traffic bad? Now you can envision my drive to DL Where did you stay? Did you like your accomodations?

Thanks for sharing.

We loved Mission San Juan Capistrano. Actually the weather whilst we were at Mass and at the Mission was pretty good. We had lunch at Ruby's Diner - great fish tacos! Traffic was not bad at all. We stayed at HoJos - just did Mass, Lunch & tour of the Mission, then headed back for soggy DL!

HoJos was great - second time we stayed there. I think I'd like to try a Disney hotel next time, if we can scare up the $$$.

Thanks for asking!

 

[Ballybunion3]

How were you able to go on rides past the park closing hour?

ditch

The parks were open until Midnight whilst we were there.