(More than)A FIVE years of Trips! -- TR Started! Day One - updated 6/10

[hurleysweety]

I don't have a schedule as to what days, what parks, yet, but I thought I'd tell you my "super secret special Cars Land strategy"

First - Get there early
Second - Walk, don't run to the fast pass line
Third - Wait in RSR FP line for a long time while watching the masses in front of and behind me
Fourth - Get RSR fp
Fifth - Join the cattle hearding in Cars Land
Sixth - Wait, wait, and wait in long long long long lines
Seventh - Devour more treats and calories than usual to make up for my grumpiness due to waiting in lines...and feed DH as well.

Ah yes, super impressive. I bet you just learned SO much from reading this post. Sorry to disappoint. I just get a kick out of the "strategies" out there. I'm of the opinion that its going to be busy and if you just accept that, move on, and enjoy being at DLR for the sake of being at DLR, it will be a fantastic memory.

Here's to people watching on park benches, NOT being stuck in my office, and special time with DH - even if we are surrounded by the projected 100,000 people...

I also figure if I tell this to you all, then maybe I'll 100% feel this way when I'm stuck in a 4 hour line...oh, the horror, the horror!

 

[DLR29]

I don't have a schedule as to what days, what parks, yet, but I thought I'd tell you my "super secret special Cars Land strategy"

First - Get there early
Second - Walk, don't run to the fast pass line
Third - Wait in RSR FP line for a long time while watching the masses in front of and behind me
Fourth - Get RSR fp
Fifth - Join the cattle hearding in Cars Land
Sixth - Wait, wait, and wait in long long long long lines
Seventh - Devour more treats and calories than usual to make up for my grumpiness due to waiting in lines...and feed DH as well.

Ah yes, super impressive. I bet you just learned SO much from reading this post. Sorry to disappoint. I just get a kick out of the "strategies" out there. I'm of the opinion that its going to be busy and if you just accept that, move on, and enjoy being at DLR for the sake of being at DLR, it will be a fantastic memory.

Here's to people watching on park benches, NOT being stuck in my office, and special time with DH - even if we are surrounded by the projected 100,000 people...

I also figure if I tell this to you all, then maybe I'll 100% feel this way when I'm stuck in a 4 hour line...oh, the horror, the horror!

This 6 step plan is EXACTLY what I was planning on doing next week on opening day (although I might burst into a "run very sneakily disguised as a fast walk" in step 2). Great minds think alike. I'm really interested in trying all of these new foods and snacks...and the super long lines for the rides will allow me to sample so many!

 

[hurleysweety]

This 6 step plan is EXACTLY what I was planning on doing next week on opening day (although I might burst into a "run very sneakily disguised as a fast walk" in step 2). Great minds think alike. I'm really interested in trying all of these new foods and snacks...and the super long lines for the rides will allow me to sample so many!

"run sneakily disguised as a fast walk" - too funny! DH and I have our morning "rope drops" at both WDW and DLR down to a science that we often use the strategy in other crowded places. We basically decide on a place to meet up and then just go as fast as possible. We find it much easier to do this because one person trying to get from point A to point B is a heck of a lot easier than 2! (Or when I see families of 5 holding hands running down main street, eek!)

 

[hurleysweety]

After days of scouring the internet, and I'm not exaggerating at all - every moment of free time for the past 72 hours has been spent looking at hotels - we finally have a hotel for our first two nights. The hotel had many, may "must-haves" which made it difficult, mostly because of price.

1. Must be near the ocean, that is why we are doing this right?! Ocean view or beach front would be but probably not in budget
2. Must have easy freeway access
3. Must be nice enough to consitute not just staying in Anaheim the whole trip
4. Must be north of Anaheim, for same reason as #3
5. Must be under $100 a night, unless a resort, which case, under $150
6. Cannot be two doubles - worst room set up for us - yuck

So I knew that somewhere, there had to be hotels for less than the standard $200-$350 price tag I saw on oceanfront hotels. Yes, they looked nice, but I'd rather spend my money on entertainment, shopping,...and my favorite, FOOD.

So I stumbled upon the Long Beach area on priceline. BTW, if you have not, check out the name your own price options. We've used it 6 out of 8 DLR trips and have never been disapointed. Why? Because I research the heck out of the area before I bid - see better bidding . com (without spaces) for more information. I also like bidding for travel . com too (also without spaces).

I was able to snag the Crowne Plaza Los Angeles Harbor for $65/night! That is 61% off their standard rate. So I was pretty happy and so is DH. This hotel is commonly used for people who are boarding cruises. And since we will be there on a Sunday, we will get to see the Disney cruise that leaves! Excited to view that for sure! Maybe I can talk DH into one for the future...we'll see!

Plans are coming along nicely. Stay tuned for a surprise dinner that I couldn't be more excited about.

 

[DLR29]

What a nice grab with the hotel! Also, one of my pet peeves is when large groups/families hold hands and try to walk through a crowded area. My family is very much like you where we have a destination and we all know what it is and we all get there ASAP. I'm don't have to worry about anyone else other than me and me getting to that spot.

It doesn't hurt that our family prides ourselves on being expert "people-weavers".

 

[hurleysweety]

What a nice grab with the hotel! Also, one of my pet peeves is when large groups/families hold hands and try to walk through a crowded area. My family is very much like you where we have a destination and we all know what it is and we all get there ASAP. I'm don't have to worry about anyone else other than me and me getting to that spot.

It doesn't hurt that our family prides ourselves on being expert "people-weavers".

People-weavers! I love that term! I happen to be a somewhat aggressive people-weaver and sometimes have to remind myself how many kids, strollers, and older people are in DL or DCA. I tend to get, ahem, carried away, when I'm focused on something like grabbing RSR FPs!

 

[hurleysweety]

Oh schedules - the ever so important part of any trip, and probably one of the most fun and frustrating things for all us OCD Disney Planners. We love spending the time dreaming up what we call the most fantastic plans ever only to realize that the park opening has changed for that day, or we can get the reservation we want, or that the the fp are already gone for the day. So here we go, here's my first attempt. Let's see how we do here:

FOOD
I love food, so first, let's do a dining schedule.

Tuesday (not a park day)
Breakfast at Tangaroa Terrace

Tangaroa Terrace - French Toast by speakerchad, on Flickr

Lunch offsite
Dinner at the new La Brea Bakery Express

Photo Cred: WDWinfo.com

Wednesday
Breakfast at Flo's

Photo Cred: Disneyland Live
Lunch at ??

Dinner at Blue Bayou - Celebrating our friend's 4yo's birthday! Its a surprise and the little girl has no idea she is even going on a trip!!! So excited to see our friends in DLR - a totally spontaneous thing that it happened that way.

Photo Cred: Davelandblog


Thursday
Breakfast at hotel?

Lunch at Jolly Holiday Bakery

Photo Cred: disZine

Dinner at Wine Country Trattoria (haven't been here since 2007, so I'm excited!)

Photo Cred: ToursDepartingDaily

Friday
Breakfast at Fiddler, Fifer, and Practical Cafe

Photo Cred: USA Today

Lunch at Carnation Cafe (so excited for the new menu!)

Photo Cred: Dateline Disney

Dinner at the Lounge of Carthay Circle Theater (not the special club, just the lobby area that is open to anyone)

Photo Cred: Paul Hiffmeyer/Disneyland Resort on DisneyGeek

 

[kmedina]

Just stumbled upon your report. We're doing WCT the same day as you but lunch instead of dinner. Then, we will have dinner at Carthay Circle on Friday as well. Maybe, we'll see you there. I wanted to do La Brea this trip, since it is one of my faves. It has to wait. I will be having that french toast at Tangora Terrace on Thursday (rather than Tuesday). We want to get breakfast before we leave the hotel, so we can have lots of Carsland time in the morning. Hopefully, we both have great times there, and I hope that 100,000 guess for crowds is wrong. We'll see soon enough.

 

[DLR29]

Sounds like an awesome food lineup---all very new experiences! I'm interested to see how you like the breakfast stuff at Flo's. I really want to try some of the dinner foods there (especially the pies!) when I go this weekend.

 

[hurleysweety]

Just stumbled upon your report. We're doing WCT the same day as you but lunch instead of dinner. Then, we will have dinner at Carthay Circle on Friday as well. Maybe, we'll see you there. I wanted to do La Brea this trip, since it is one of my faves. It has to wait. I will be having that french toast at Tangora Terrace on Thursday (rather than Tuesday). We want to get breakfast before we leave the hotel, so we can have lots of Carsland time in the morning. Hopefully, we both have great times there, and I hope that 100,000 guess for crowds is wrong. We'll see soon enough.

Thanks for joining in!

I love your taste in "Disney Cuisine"! Too funny that we're eating at so many similar places. Maybe we'll bump into each other. I would love to do Carthay Circle as a sit-down, but DH can't get past the prices, even though I have told him it will be as good as Hollywood Brown Derby in WDW, our favorite restaurant, despite the "signature" price tag. But as reviews come out this weekend, maybe I can talk him into it. If we weren't doing Blue Bayou as well, we would probably do it. But since Blue Bayou is a celebration with friends, it wins on this trip!

Sounds like an awesome food lineup---all very new experiences! I'm interested to see how you like the breakfast stuff at Flo's. I really want to try some of the dinner foods there (especially the pies!) when I go this weekend.

Thanks! I love trying new things. As DH keeps saying, its like a whole new park. I'm glad that we will be plenty to do in DCA this trip.

I'm eager to try the Apple Cheddar pie, since it sounds so weird. I might find time to stick my head in their during lunch or dinner to check out those new options.

 

[hurleysweety]

I deem today, Hollywood Research Day (even though I'm at work. )

I have compiled all the studio tours information and have even made a map on google maps outlining where everything is in the Hollywood Area. We are currently gathering all our information so we can finally make our decisions on tours, go cards, universal studios, beach days, and so forth. Then we can finally make our dining plans for those days. Right now we have four days without any concrete plans, which happen to be the first four days we are there. I have hotels, so that's nice, but I'm feeling the last minute frustrations of planning. Ticket prices, driving directions, discounts and coupons, and more are all jumbled in my head. Instead of narrowing things down, I keep coming up with more to do! Ooops.

SO far, I would really like to see the following:

• Two or Three Studio Tours (Paramount, Warner Bros, and Sony)
• Farmer's Market
• Hollywood Walk of Fame
• Eat at the Disney Soda Fountain
• See the El Capitan Theater (wanted to see Brave, but we're a week early)
• See Grauman's Chinese Theater
• Go to Griffith Park
• Maybe go out to the Santa Monica Pier, rent bicycles
• Madame Tussauds
• Universal Studios, if we have time

I also made a Studio Tour Information Thread that is located on the Southern California board.

There is a Go Card for LA that offers admission to about 40 attractions or so that you can buy for $65/adult for one day. There are also 2, 3, 5, and 7 day passes, but that obviously won't work for us. The 3, 5, and 7 day passes include admission to Universal Studios as well. At one point, we were considering doing a 3 day pass, but it would be too much to try and squeeze in, plus they are $170/adult for 3 days. You would have to keep your butt moving. The nice thing is that the days don't have to be consecutive. So have 2 weeks to use them. I think we might do this to save money on the studio tours since all three combined would be $132/each. But I don't really think we could fit 3 into one day, right? That would be a nightmare if we got stuck in traffic somewhere.

So much to think about, no time to plan!

 

[kmedina]

We've done the Go Card before and are fans. Hopefully, you find the one that works well for you. We are watching Brave at the El Capitan on 06-24-12 and most likely eating at the Soda Fountain next door (for time not for taste). I wish we had more time down there as well, but DH cannot get more time off work. Other than the studio tours, we have done all of the others. If I had to pick a few, I would choose The Farmer's Market, The Santa Monica Pier or Universal Studios. The Walk of Fame, Grauman's, El Capitan, The Soda Fountain and Madamme Tussauds are all very close to each other. You may be able to see all of them.

I love your taste in "Disney Cuisine"! Too funny that we're eating at so many similar places. Maybe we'll bump into each other. I would love to do Carthay Circle as a sit-down, but DH can't get past the prices, even though I have told him it will be as good as Hollywood Brown Derby in WDW, our favorite restaurant, despite the "signature" price tag. But as reviews come out this weekend, maybe I can talk him into it. If we weren't doing Blue Bayou as well, we would probably do it. But since Blue Bayou is a celebration with friends, it wins on this trip!

While I find the steaks at The Blue Bayou and The Brown Derby to be lacking compared to some other Disney restaurants (Citricos, Flying Fish, Narcoossees, etc), I love the cobb salad at The Brown Derby. I love the amibiance of the Blue Bayou though, so I am sure you will have a great time at the party. Carthay Circle has the same head chef as Napa Rose, so I have a feeling it will be the best of the three. Hopefully, you talk him into it!

 

[hurleysweety]

We've done the Go Card before and are fans. Hopefully, you find the one that works well for you. We are watching Brave at the El Capitan on 06-24-12 and most likely eating at the Soda Fountain next door (for time not for taste). I wish we had more time down there as well, but DH cannot get more time off work. Other than the studio tours, we have done all of the others. If I had to pick a few, I would choose The Farmer's Market, The Santa Monica Pier or Universal Studios. The Walk of Fame, Grauman's, El Capitan, The Soda Fountain and Madamme Tussauds are all very close to each other. You may be able to see all of them.

Too ironic we have such similar plans. When I first started my disneyland/disboard obession back in 2008 and began this PTR in 2009, I thought people were crazy for leaving Anahiem and doing something besides Disney. Now I can't believe that I missed out on so many fun things. Maybe we're just growing up. Wish we could see a movie at El Capitan - but we already saw Avengers. Whoops!

While I find the steaks at The Blue Bayou and The Brown Derby to be lacking compared to some other Disney restaurants (Citricos, Flying Fish, Narcoossees, etc), I love the cobb salad at The Brown Derby. I love the amibiance of the Blue Bayou though, so I am sure you will have a great time at the party. Carthay Circle has the same head chef as Napa Rose, so I have a feeling it will be the best of the three. Hopefully, you talk him into it!

Ah yes, steak at Disney. The food at Blue Bayou is not the main reason we are going, but man I love that ambiance -- interesting considering that is why you go to a restaurant - to eat! Haha. The cobb is a must have for every Disney foodie. And it left me only wanting more. On both visits, we scheduled our Brown Derby ADR late in the trip, since we knew everything would disappoint afterwards! We're just getting our feet wet when it comes to "signature" Disney dining like Napa Rose or Carthay Circle (and hopefully Narcoosses on the next WDW trip, maybe in 2014?- dying for that lakeside view!). But I figure we have many trips ahead to plan a special meal here and there.

 

[hurleysweety]

We got our Go Cards! We settled on the 2 day pass and are excited for the possibility to go on all 3 studio tours - meaning we'll get our money's worth by just visiting those three places. So everything else will be a bonus. For instance, there is a great aquarium right by our hotel that is a $22/adult ticket that we might be able to squeeze into.

My boss used to live in LA for 15 years, so has has told me all about the traffic we'll deal with on Monday. Basically we have two choices, leave by 2:30, or leave after 8pm. Such a different world over there!

So now I get to spend my night planning the best way two spend these two days. The hardest part is wanting to book the tours, but knowing that I can't until I have the card in my hand. Hoping that the tours are still available.

I also need to work on driving directions, dining options for wherever we might want to eat those first few days, and laundry. Ooohh laundry...please find a way to fold yourself...

 

[kmedina]

Sounds like you just have great taste in my opinion. We love to eat, so we mostly get the deluxe plan when we go to WDW. Disneyland has a dining plan, but it does not save any money. When every meal is full price oop, we eat less TS.

We love Disney and mostly go there now that we have kids. Before the kids, we mostly went other places, so I think you are ahead of the game. I love swinging by Hollywood or Santa Monica at the end of a Disney or San Diego trip, because we are unlikely to vacation exclusively in Hollywood.

I would love to read about your studio tours, since we have never done any of them. If you rave about them, I just might have to check them out on a future trip. My DH is not into studio tours at the theme parks, like HS or Universal, so I do not think he would want to do it.

I think we have two park days that cross each other, Thursday and Friday. We are both going to have fun, I bet!

 

[DLR29]

My boss used to live in LA for 15 years, so has has told me all about the traffic we'll deal with on Monday. Basically we have two choices, leave by 2:30, or leave after 8pm. Such a different world over there!

Oh LA traffic...This summer is the first time I have a car. Fortunately, I don't have to drive to my on-campus job, but I've had to drive around LA a few times over the past couple weeks and it is a little crazy.

When I went to the One More Disney Day on Leap Day, me and my friend left LA at 6PM and hit so much traffic (the first part was LA traffic, second was Disney traffic)! It took us 2 hours to get to the Mickey and Friends parking structure! But we're glad that we left then and not later because even though there wouldn't have been any LA traffic later, we wouldn't have been let into the parks!

Also, I've been living here for almost 2 years and haven't done 3/4 of the "Hollywood/LA" attractions. I've been to Hollywood Blvd a few times (was there when the red carpet/world premiere of the avengers was at the El Capitan) and I've walked to the Hollywood sign, but that's about it... I've never even been to Universal Studios except this past Easter because our church had a HUGE service there.

 

[hurleysweety]

Sounds like you just have great taste in my opinion. We love to eat, so we mostly get the deluxe plan when we go to WDW. Disneyland has a dining plan, but it does not save any money. When every meal is full price oop, we eat less TS.

We love Disney and mostly go there now that we have kids. Before the kids, we mostly went other places, so I think you are ahead of the game. I love swinging by Hollywood or Santa Monica at the end of a Disney or San Diego trip, because we are unlikely to vacation exclusively in Hollywood.

I would love to read about your studio tours, since we have never done any of them. If you rave about them, I just might have to check them out on a future trip. My DH is not into studio tours at the theme parks, like HS or Universal, so I do not think he would want to do it.

I think we have two park days that cross each other, Thursday and Friday. We are both going to have fun, I bet!

Oh we love to eat too. As DH commonly says, "We're here for the food..." And we've been known to plan out our dining plans before we think about much else. In WDW, our park days are usually determined by when I can get those coveted ADRs at the perfect timing. DLR's dining plan is a bit of a joke. But I know some people like having everything paid for up front, so I see how it could be of use to some people. I think I'd end up getting to frustrated using vouchers. And I would love to do the DxDP someday, but DH thinks it might be too much food. He tends to eat healthier than me and doesn't like all the fried, sugary, calorie-laden things that my tastebuds are only ever drawn to in Disney (seriously, it just smells too good sometimes!).

I hope you guys have a great time too. I hope that the weather is nice, despite the usual "June Gloom." Also hoping for a bit under the expected 100,000 people. I'd be happy with 90,000...

Oh LA traffic...This summer is the first time I have a car. Fortunately, I don't have to drive to my on-campus job, but I've had to drive around LA a few times over the past couple weeks and it is a little crazy.

When I went to the One More Disney Day on Leap Day, me and my friend left LA at 6PM and hit so much traffic (the first part was LA traffic, second was Disney traffic)! It took us 2 hours to get to the Mickey and Friends parking structure! But we're glad that we left then and not later because even though there wouldn't have been any LA traffic later, we wouldn't have been let into the parks!

Also, I've been living here for almost 2 years and haven't done 3/4 of the "Hollywood/LA" attractions. I've been to Hollywood Blvd a few times (was there when the red carpet/world premiere of the avengers was at the El Capitan) and I've walked to the Hollywood sign, but that's about it... I've never even been to Universal Studios except this past Easter because our church had a HUGE service there.

Part of me really wanted to go to Universal, "Cuz its right there!" but then I realized that it would be another day of theme park lines, food, etc and I think that three, during Cars Land's first week, will be plenty rides/attractions to last me awhile!

Hoping my boss's traffic advice works out well. One of our Hollywood days is a Sunday (the 17th), so we are hoping that will help a bit. And its also Father's Day, and what Disney is guessing will be the busiest day of the Cars Land weekend, as NO APs are blocked out that day, and most likely will be the last day for many people who planned a vacation just to see Cars Land (going back to work Monday, ugh). Glad to hear that you only got stuck in 2 hours of traffic. I've read about much worse! Also good that you made it into the parking structure, as I heard it was a nightmare after it was full. Eek. But I bet it was tons of fun!

 

[hurleysweety]

Studio Tours have been booked! We are going to all three. Warner Brothers, Sony, and Paramount. We are starting at Warner Brothers one day, then we'll be going to Hollywood/Highland area to see Madame Tussads and the Hollywood Museum and to eat at the Disney Soda Fountain. Then we're going to try and make it over to the pier at Santa Monica by 5:30 to get an unlimited ride wristband since the pier is open until 10pm that night.

Then on our second Go Card day, we'll start at Sony Pictures in the morning, and then head over to Paramount in the afternoon. Then we're going to the Farmer's Market to look around and eat dinner. Then around 8:00 we'll head down to Anaheim and hope for better traffic conditions. We might head over to Downtown Disney for free 3 hour parking and just look around hang out. I can't stay away from Disneyland when I know its "right there!" for too long!

If my calculations are correct, we're definitely saving money with these cards!
Cost for Go Los Angeles Adult Card - $93.xx *2 Cards = $187.xx
- Cost for Warner Brothers - $49.00 *2 = $98.00
- Cost for Sony Tour - $35 *2 = $70.00
- Cost for Paramount Tour - $48 = $96.00
- Cost for Madamme Tussads - $20.00 *2 = $40.00
- Cost for Hollywood Museum - $15 *2 = $30.00
- Cost for Santa Monica Pier Unlimited Rides - $22 *2 = $44.00
Total Price for all attractions in our plan - $378.00
Total potential Savings - $191 (that's over 50%!!!!)

Our only concern right now is actually getting our Go Card. We found out we can only redeem our voucher at a location in Beverly Hills. That puts us about an hour out of our way on our drive tomorrow. But I know I will feel better having the card in my hand! We'll be calling another location in Buena Park to see if they are able to process the voucher since it will take us about 10 minutes out of our way. Wouldn't that be so much better?!

EDIT - DH has been awesome at calling these places while I'm at work. He found out from the Buena Park place that they will gladly process our voucher. No going to Beverly Hills for us!

 

[kmedina]

You have some excellent things planned for Hollywood and are sure to have a great time. I cannot wait to read about the studio tours. Glad you get to go to Buena Park to get your Go Cards.

 

[DLR29]

Hi! Hope you're having a wonderful trip so far! When you get back we can compare Carsland reviews!!! Can't wait to hear your take on the new stuff!