My first ever DLR trip!!!! June 13-18 *Completed!*

[kaoden39]

What wonderful interaction with Mary and Bert. I got teary over than too. Scotty and I sat and watched Mary with kids on Friday and I thought that her and Bert were both great. I love seeing things like that. Boy isn't that the truth about the convenient location of the face painting and the souvenir stand? We experienced that too.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Very Disney-magical with Mary Poppins & your daughter!! I love stories like that!

Love the face painting at the end of Pixie Hollow......very, very cute!! How much did that cost you?? (curious...since I see us doing this at least once during the trip.....lol)

Another great batch of pics & memories!!

 

[koalagirl5]

wow- I love a trip report with soo many pics- you get a ! You guys look great and super happy! Love the Mary and Bert story!

I love lots of pics too, so I tried! Thanks!

What wonderful interaction with Mary and Bert. I got teary over than too. Scotty and I sat and watched Mary with kids on Friday and I thought that her and Bert were both great. I love seeing things like that. Boy isn't that the truth about the convenient location of the face painting and the souvenir stand? We experienced that too.

Yes, I also love watching the interactions, especially when the characters are fully committed to their role.

Very Disney-magical with Mary Poppins & your daughter!! I love stories like that!

Love the face painting at the end of Pixie Hollow......very, very cute!! How much did that cost you?? (curious...since I see us doing this at least once during the trip.....lol)

Another great batch of pics & memories!!

It was $14. I told Alyssa that she had to use her own money for at least part of it, and she agreed, so I knew she really wanted it. Since I held all the money and I still had enough of my own, I ended up paying for it anyway without her knowing. Then she was able to buy herself one of those stuffed Minnies wearing the 2010 hoodie on our last day.

 

[koalagirl5]

This was our last day in the parks. DL opened at 9:00, and when we got to the gates at 8:30, I just about freaked out. The lines were almost back to the DCA letters! I later discovered it was because most people didn't know that Thursday's MM was moved to Wednesday. So all the MM people then had to wait an extra hour for the real opening.

Alyssa and I already had a plan to hang out in town square first thing to try and catch some more characters. We saw these characters, all by 9:20:

Goofy was excited to see himself on the page border.

These little guys ran all around.

Check out my Minnie ears - the sunglasses look like the bow!

This was right after Dale came up to where we were sitting and kissed Alyssa on the top of her head.

Someone else that Alyssa was dying to see was Donald. She loves how grumpy, or "mean" as she says, he gets. While in line for Goofy, I asked the CM about Donald. He checked his list and came back saying that if he's coming out it will be around 9:00, but it's not guaranteed. Well, guess who showed up at 9:15, and guess who was first in line to meet him?

Next, we went into one of the stores on Main Street to get Alyssa a shirt, because hers was apparently uncomfortable. I thought this was cute in the store.

A shot at the envelope:

We had to grab FP's for Autopia again; the kid couldn't get enough of that ride. Alyssa kind of wanted to try PH again, hoping for Silvermist or Fawn, and when we got there we could see Silvermist through the blades of grass. We jumped in line, but it was a 45 minute wait. When we finally got up there, everyone was gone but Iridessa. Even Tink left! At least we met a really nice lady and her 3 or 4 y.o. girl who were right behind us.

Next were the Teacups since the line was pretty short, and then on to Toontown to ride Gadget's Go-Coaster. Now, we had been skipping it all week because the wait time always said at least 20 minutes and I was hoping to catch it at a slow time. This time it said 40 minutes, but Alyssa wanted to go ahead and wait. We only waited 10 minutes! They apparently don't keep it up-to-date. I'm glad we never waited long for this ride, because it lasts maybe 15 seconds. I guess it's the most thrilling 15 seconds of Alyssa's trip, based on this pic:

Then we grabbed some lunch a little after 11:00. I had pizza from Daisy's Diner, and Alyssa a hot dog from Pluto's Dog House. The pizza was just all right, and I think Alyssa enjoyed the hot dog. We sat at a table right underneath the Toontown City Hall's window which is next to the door that the characters come out of. My back was to the window, and suddenly Alyssa gasped, pointed to the window, and said "There's Pluto!" When I turned around, the curtain was falling back into place. I gotta admit, it creeped me out slightly. A few minutes later, Pluto came out.

Before leaving Toontown, we grabbed Roger Rabbit FP's, then rode the train to the front gates. This was the first time seeing these dinosaurs. So cool!

Day 4 continued coming up.

 

[koalagirl5]

After getting off the train, we headed over to DCA to catch the 12:00 High School Musical show.

HSM3 was actually a big hit with Alyssa. I thought she wouldn't be as interested without the actors from the movie, but she loved it. Next was another ride on Mulholland Madness. This ride is almost exactly like one called Mad Mouse at Valleyfair in Minnesota, and Alyssa and I both loved that ride. Then we were able to catch the 1:00 Drawn to the Magic. I figured that even if it was Cinderella, Mickey and Woody again, we could at least meet Woody. Instead, it was Snow White, Mickey, and Peter Pan! This is how we scored our sixth princess! We even had time for Peter Pan's line, too.

Then we were off to see Turtle Talk at 2:00. This was so entertaining, I could have done this multiple times. Alyssa even got to ask Crush a question, which I was happy about because she knew way before the trip what she wanted to ask him.

We were ready for a break, so we wandered around, grabbing frozen lemonade on the way.

We came back into DL at 4:30, taking the train back to Toontown. It was then that I realized I had left the camera battery charging back at the hotel. *facepalm* That's Fail #1.

When we went to use our Roger Rabbit FP's, the CM said the ride would be down for a half hour. Fail #2.

We tried riding the Go-Coaster, but could see that the line was long, so we went over to Critter Country. On the way, Woody and Jessie passed us, and I had no camera battery. Fail #3. At least Alyssa had a disposable camera, so we're hoping we at least got some decent pics of them walking by.

In Critter Country, Eeyore was out with Tigger and Pooh, and I thought I could at least get a photopass pic with Eeyore. But when I talked to the CM, she said they were about to take a 20 minute break. As I was talking to the CM, Tigger must have thought we should've been paying attention to him, because he got in my face and stared me down. Then he patted my head when I laughed and said hi to him. It was pretty funny.

While we were there, I bought some treats, including a Tigger Tail and some cookies. We tried riding the Pooh ride, but that was down, too. So we ate some dinner at River Belle Terrace. I didn't like it very much, though, and neither did Alyssa. We had turkey sandwiches, and I had cole slaw that was very, very bland. I still want to eat there for breakfast sometime, just probably not dinner again.

We finally went back to get the camera battery from the room, and made it back to DL just before the 6:30 parade. I dragged Alyssa back to Critter Country, hoping to catch Eeyore still out, but they were all done for the evening. We were able to ride Winnie the Pooh, then Roger Rabbit and Gadget's coaster in Toontown. Alyssa wanted to check out Chip and Dale's treehouse one more time.

Then I finally got to do It's a Small World!!! Alyssa kept saying that she didn't want to ride it, and it wasn't such a big deal that I wanted to force her to do it. But as we were passing it, she suddenly decided that we should go on it.

Next: Conclusion to Day 4, with the rest of my Small World pics.

 

[mhalpern]

We are leaving in 18 days and I am making our autograph book. But we have never been to DLR so I was trying to figure out which characters we are likely to see. Your trip report is really helping! Also, the picture of your daughter riding the Gadget coaster is THE CUTEST PICTURE I have ever seen.

 

[koalagirl5]

Here are more Small World shots:

I loved this ride! It was nice and long, too, so I had a break from walking for a while.

It was getting close to fireworks time, and I decided I really wanted another set of silhouettes made of Alyssa and me together. This time it was another lady working, Bonnie I think. I didn't care for her personality at all, but I have to say that these silhouettes actually looked a lot more like us than the ones Sylvia did. Next, we stood in line for churros. Alyssa insisted. Here's us waiting in a 15 minute churro line.

I was actually worried that we wouldn't get our churros before the fireworks started, but we were able to get them and get over into Tomorrowland before they got going.

We sat at Tomorrowland Terrace to eat the churros and relax, then got in line for Autopia at 8:50, with the park closing at 9:00.

When we finished it was 9:20, and even though there were still quite a few people in the park, it was nice to be there past closing. I didn't want it to end, so I was frantically taking some last pics. Here are some:

All in all, I'm ecstatic with how the trip went. No major meltdowns from either of us, and we had lots of character interaction.

Some things I'm sad about missing:

Great Moments with Lincoln
Carnation Cafe brekkie - we even had a PS, it just didn't work out
POTC
riding on the Mark Twain
meeting Eeyore
Tiki Room
most of the Fantasyland rides
Pixar parade
TOT
the Aladdin show
TSMM

We didn't even go into Bug's Land or the back half of Paradise Pier, either. I think this list is a good enough excuse to try to return next year sometime to catch up on the things I missed. Well, except maybe Aladdin, if they move it.

 

[koalagirl5]

We are leaving in 18 days and I am making our autograph book. But we have never been to DLR so I was trying to figure out which characters we are likely to see. Your trip report is really helping! Also, the picture of your daughter riding the Gadget coaster is THE CUTEST PICTURE I have ever seen.

Yay, I'm glad it's helping you. I don't think I mentioned it, but we also saw Geppetto, Cruella, and the Evil Queen from Snow White. We just never met them because we were either leaving or we only saw them for a moment.

Oh, and thanks, I think I may have to frame that picture. Just the pure joy on her face makes me giggle when I see it.

 

[koalagirl5]

I had to share our trip home, because there are a couple of highlights and failures worth telling.

Friday morning was spent packing up the car and checking out of the hotel. I needed to get gas, and then had to find a US Bank, which I thought I had mapped out. It wasn't where I thought it should be, so we looped back to Harbor so we could have breakfast at Mimi's. BEST. DECISION. EVER. Seriously, make sure you eat there. It threw me off, though, because I was expecting a Denny's type place but it was way nicer.

Alyssa had chocolate chip pancakes and apple juice with a side of scrambled eggs. I got french toast with overhard eggs and bacon. Juice came with my meal, but I also had a soda, and our total was only $16. Awesome!

I asked our server where to find a different US Bank, and he gave me perfect directions. We finally hit the road at 10:30, and I was hoping we'd miss a lot of the LA traffic. No such luck. It wasn't horrible, but it took us twice as long to get through there than it did on the way down.

We stopped somewhere for McDonald's, and then in Santa Nella for gas. We were making pretty good time when Alyssa says, " I don't remember those windmills."

I somehow ended up on the 580 heading West. Argh!! By the time we got back on track, we'd lost an hour.

We were getting hungry, but I wanted to wait until we found an In-n-Out. I couldn't see any signs, though, and finally just took an exit about 2 hours South of Redding. I planned on settling for someplace different, but guess what we found?

Absolutely the best burger ever! The fries were different, and I wasn't sure if I liked them, but the burger was delicious. And I got a good palm tree picture, too.

We finally reached Redding a little after 9:00, and grabbed a room at a Holiday Inn. When figuring our budget, I had planned on staying at a cheaper place, like Motel 6. But I had extra cash, and I wanted somewhere clean where we could shower, so we splurged.

We probably left Redding the next morning around 8:30, after getting gas. And we finally made it home at 1:30, with a stop for lunch in Roseburg.

Home sweet cold, rainy home.

The End.

 

[TokyoDina]

Aww it's too bad you didn't get to see it's a small world before the changed it! I love the change but it's a big change. The Disney Characters were never there before.

I can't wait to go! I turn 27 in 30 days! Yay!!!! I hope it's great! We are only going for two days. I hope we get a tone of characters like we did our WDW trip!

I loved your report! I'm so glad Alyssa got to meet Mary! I've never met her! And that right there is a true example of the magic the parks bring to everyone!

 

[kaoden39]

What a wonderful ending. I love In N Out. Their burgers are to die for. I am fond of their fries though. So she never got to see Silver Mist? I will have pictures of her over in my trip report for Alyssa to see.

 

[koalagirl5]

Aww it's too bad you didn't get to see it's a small world before the changed it! I love the change but it's a big change. The Disney Characters were never there before.

I can't wait to go! I turn 27 in 30 days! Yay!!!! I hope it's great! We are only going for two days. I hope we get a tone of characters like we did our WDW trip!

I loved your report! I'm so glad Alyssa got to meet Mary! I've never met her! And that right there is a true example of the magic the parks bring to everyone!

Happy early Birthday, and I hope you get lots of characters too!

What a wonderful ending. I love In N Out. Their burgers are to die for. I am fond of their fries though. So she never got to see Silver Mist? I will have pictures of her over in my trip report for Alyssa to see.

I think I decided to like the fries in the end. They were just so different and seemed greasier than other places. I will definitely have to show Alyssa your Silvermist pics to ease her pain.

 

[Tikestoublie]

What a wonderful trip. You two are both so adorable and it looks like you both really enjoyed yourselves, good to hear.

As to the getting on the wrong freeway been there. It is crazy, at least Alyssa noticed that things didn't seem quite right otherwise you might have been visiting San Francisco

Thanks so much for sharing with us. Hope you get to do it soon and go on those rides you missed.

 

[deejdigsdis]

What a great trip report! I can't believe how quickly you cranked it out! Thanks for sharing. That's interesting about Sylvia/Bonnie and the silhouettes. Before our trip last fall I had seen some YouTube videos of Sylvia and I was amazed at her work. I mean I could tell they looked like the people and I'd never seen the people before! And she's been there for decades. We ended up getting Bonnie, though, and I had to try hard to keep track of which silhouette was which boy (we have 3 boys) cuz I certainly couldn't tell by looking at them! They are great souvenirs. I framed them and look at them every day. Now I can see 2 of my boys in theirs but the one of my youngest just looks like some random child!

Glad you 2 had such a great trip and made it home safely. I hope you get to go back and check more things off your list next year.

 

[GoofySon'sMom]

Loved your trip report! DS and I took a Mom & Son trip to WDW two years ago and this brought back such great memories for me!

 

[koalagirl5]

What a wonderful trip. You two are both so adorable and it looks like you both really enjoyed yourselves, good to hear.

As to the getting on the wrong freeway been there. It is crazy, at least Alyssa noticed that things didn't seem quite right otherwise you might have been visiting San Francisco

Thanks so much for sharing with us. Hope you get to do it soon and go on those rides you missed.

I know, Alyssa turned out to be very valuable. At first I dismissed her concerns, but never again! She probably saved us hours.

What a great trip report! I can't believe how quickly you cranked it out! Thanks for sharing. That's interesting about Sylvia/Bonnie and the silhouettes. Before our trip last fall I had seen some YouTube videos of Sylvia and I was amazed at her work. I mean I could tell they looked like the people and I'd never seen the people before! And she's been there for decades. We ended up getting Bonnie, though, and I had to try hard to keep track of which silhouette was which boy (we have 3 boys) cuz I certainly couldn't tell by looking at them! They are great souvenirs. I framed them and look at them every day. Now I can see 2 of my boys in theirs but the one of my youngest just looks like some random child!

Glad you 2 had such a great trip and made it home safely. I hope you get to go back and check more things off your list next year.

Thanks! I procrastinate a lot, so I knew I needed to get going on this or I never would.

Loved your trip report! DS and I took a Mom & Son trip to WDW two years ago and this brought back such great memories for me!

Even though I'd love to do an adult trip, this one was special and I'd do it again in a heartbeat. I hope to do it again.

 

[koalagirl5]

BTW, I've discovered that if you're talking about princess Aurora, and saying her name multiple times, you start to sound like a dog trying to speak. You know when the dog is saying "I wuv yoo" on the home video?

Yeah, Alyssa thought I was nuts when I said this, but she did agree in the end.

 

[kaoden39]

BTW, I've discovered that if you're talking about princess Aurora, and saying her name multiple times, you start to sound like a dog trying to speak. You know when the dog is saying "I wuv yoo" on the home video?

Yeah, Alyssa thought I was nuts when I said this, but she did agree in the end.

How funny!! I never thought about it but that is so true!!

 

[koalagirl5]

Okay, this isn't a big deal, but it will drive me crazy if I don't add this. I was just answering a question about GRR, and realized that I'm pretty sure I forgot to say that we rode it on Day 2.

Well, we rode GRR on Day 2. There, I'm better now.

 

[DizNee Luver]

Super report!! I enjoyed reading it & preparing my mind for going!!! You got a lot in but definitely missed some biggies!! So I agree.....you better start planning your next trip!! I'm assuming your daughter wasn't fond of the dark rides?? Most kids want to go on POTC.....if nothing else, they want to see Capt Jack!!
Too bad you didn't make it to Aladdin......it is a wonderful show & really worth setting the time aside to go......absolutely love this musical!!

Next time.......