We had a GRAND trip to Disneyland! March 2014 TR NEW 7/29 p.12

[MEK]

Happy Birthday Sarah!!!!! Welcome to the teen years.

Story Tellers Cafe is super cute and those are great pictures.

I can't wait to ride Radiator Springs Racers. It looks like such an amazing ride!

 

[MEK]

Santa Monica Pier looks so cute! Great shots. That memorial on the beach looks really neat. Very eye catching.

 

[Dismamx2]

I will try to get more up this weekend! Is there anything special you want to see or know about?

I hope you have an amazing trip!!

Thank you so much I have really enjoyed your TR as my girls are similar ages to yours. I will try to keep up when I am away and if not I will have a lot to look forward to when we are back

 

[petals]

The beach looks fab the water is so blue

 

[mickeystoontown]

Happy birthday Sarah! What a great day you guys were having. I think that it's cool that you were able to see the "different" characters. We have only seen Koda a couple of times at the Animal Kingdom.

So cool that you were able to see not only the Hollywood sign and the pier but you were able to dip your toes in the water too.

You already know that I absolutely hate traffic so all I gotta say to the traffic that you ran into is

 

[KatMark]

Great updates, Sheree.

Happy 13th birthday Sarah.

I love being able to see characters you don't see every day. Very cool!

I'm so glad to hear you all enjoyed Cars so very much. I really want to try it (although it doesn't look like DL is going to happen after all next year).

Nice that you were going to see the Hollywood sign for Sarah's birthday. Too bad about all the traffic and congestion with going to the beach. I'm going to say that the traffic is probably like every day Chicago traffic.

I love walking on the beach and sticking my toes in the water (and that's usually about how far I go).

 

[Poolrat]

RSR is amazing. Both daytime and nighttime.

You ventured outside the bubble- good for you. I was not that brave last time. Maybe this time.

Sounds like a nice little break between RSR rides.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I have never been to storytellers. I am wondering if it might be a good choice for my November trip. That or goofy's kitchen.

Love RSR! Isn't that oil bottle wall cool?

Such a neat trip out to Santa monica! You sure can see that there is a lot of people that go to those beaches though, can't you!

We were trying to decide between those two - Storytellers was closer and had animals, that's why it won!
RSR is the absolute coolest ride I've ever been on. Such great themeing - so all-encompassing. It really is cool - just like walking into the movie.
Nice beach for sure - I can see the attraction of living there and spending time at the beach. Although, I always think if I lived close to something like that, I would not take advantage of it. I hardly do stuff close to home here.

Happy Birthday Sarah!!!!! Welcome to the teen years.

Story Tellers Cafe is super cute and those are great pictures.

I can't wait to ride Radiator Springs Racers. It looks like such an amazing ride!

teen years - She's embraced them thoroughly!
It was a nice breakfast!
You will LOVE RSR!!! And you will take awesome photos!!

Santa Monica Pier looks so cute! Great shots. That memorial on the beach looks really neat. Very eye catching.

It was cute, a little bit too carnival-cheesy for me, but the beach, ocean and views were fabulous!

Thank you so much I have really enjoyed your TR as my girls are similar ages to yours. I will try to keep up when I am away and if not I will have a lot to look forward to when we are back

Sorry I couldn't get more info up before your trip! I hope you're having a GREAT time!!

The beach looks fab the water is so blue

It was really nice! so pretty!

Happy birthday Sarah! What a great day you guys were having. I think that it's cool that you were able to see the "different" characters. We have only seen Koda a couple of times at the Animal Kingdom.

So cool that you were able to see not only the Hollywood sign and the pier but you were able to dip your toes in the water too.

You already know that I absolutely hate traffic so all I gotta say to the traffic that you ran into is

It was a lot of fun to mix it up! She is such an animal lover it was the perfect place!
We HAD to put our toes in the ocean! Now we can say we've done it on both coasts!
Traffic -

Great updates, Sheree.

Happy 13th birthday Sarah.

I love being able to see characters you don't see every day. Very cool!

I'm so glad to hear you all enjoyed Cars so very much. I really want to try it (although it doesn't look like DL is going to happen after all next year).

Nice that you were going to see the Hollywood sign for Sarah's birthday. Too bad about all the traffic and congestion with going to the beach. I'm going to say that the traffic is probably like every day Chicago traffic.

I love walking on the beach and sticking my toes in the water (and that's usually about how far I go).

It was a really fun day and fun trip. Yeah - that traffic did seem like "big city" traffic! Even rush hour here isn't that bad (although I don't have to drive into the city for work).
I don't mind getting in the ocean, but we didn't plan on it for that day - I knew there wouldn't be a lot of time.
I hope you get a chance to get to DL sometime in the future!

RSR is amazing. Both daytime and nighttime.

You ventured outside the bubble- good for you. I was not that brave last time. Maybe this time.

Sounds like a nice little break between RSR rides.

It is an awesome ride experience. We knew we had to see a beach one day and Sarah's big birthday wish was to see that sign, so that was a must. It was fine, got a little hot toward the end of our afternoon, but hey, it was California in March - WAY better than the cold at home! I was not about to complain about being too warm!

 

[Mndisneygirl]

I've got a little update on our December trip to share with you!
We hit our 180 day mark for the first leg of our split stay. Even though our reservations were linked, we could only make ADRs for the first part. So I woke up super early on Monday 6/30. Paige actually woke me up with a need for water at 4:15. She had oral surgery on Friday and was still recovering and had some gauze in her mouth. (that's a whole other story)
So I never went back to sleep as I was going to jump online at 5 a.m. to make my ADRs.
I was hoping for Be Our Guest on at least one night, of course I was planning on NYE! So I go on line and it won't let me make anything for that day at all! It was later in our trip, so I figured the system was not doing the +10. I was able to make one for our arrival day at Olivia's, which everyone seems to love. So we hope we'll be at OKW before dinnertime so we can eat there that night.
Then I managed to get Trail's End for the next night (I think).
And that was it! Oh man, I panicked for the next hour waiting to call. Kept clicking on every day trying to get something to work.
Finally 6:00 rolled around and I called right away. Got a very nice CM. She was able to find me a BOG on NYE at 8:15!!! it was perfect! Between the fireworks and the BIG fireworks according to the schedule as of now! She said I was lucky! NO KIDDING!!!
Then we got a breakfast on NYE at Crystal Palace, and a dinner on another night at 50s PT Cafe.
Still need to book my Candlelight Processional package when they become available - hoping for 12/30 at Via Napoli. The partial narrator schedule lists Steven Curtis Chapman for that night! I'm very pleased with that! Also think we might book Beaches and Cream on New Years Day since we'll be at BC and Epcot that day.
Not sure if we'll add any other places. I just don't want to wait an hour in a QS line for food.
Ordered myself an AP too! First time ever having one! We'll all get one eventually, just spreading the cost out. We will have them by October so I can link our tickets and book FP+.
Paige was asking the other day if we could go for Christmas, and of course I said no, we can't get a room at this late date for the busiest time of the year! Hee Hee!
Hope to get an update up this weekend.

Happy Independence Day!!

 

[KatMark]

on the ADR's you got. We've enjoyed all three of our meals at BOG. You know we LOVE Olivia's. We are also fans of Crystal Palace for breakfast.

We've never done Trail's End but I've heard great things about it. Unfortunately, we weren't fans of 50's...but we probably hit an off day.

I hope you do go to Beaches & Cream...love that place.

And you are doing the CP! You will love it.

 

[petals]

Great ADR's

 

[Mndisneygirl]

So we're still on March 9 - Sarah's birthday. I must have put the camera away. I have very few pictures from this evening!

We made it back to DL and headed to Earl of Sandwich! By now we were really hungry and we needed to eat big time!!
I'm sure at least one of the girls got a PB&J. I am sure I got the Italian.

We hightailed it over to Carsland to use our FPs for RSR with a few minutes to spare.
We had a visit with Lightning McQueen (How do I have NO pictures?) and got some churro bites from the Cozy Cone.

The girls rode the Ladybug spin ride in Bug’s Land.

We decided to check on Toy Story Midway Mania. On the way we scoped out our location for the FP (Blue section) for World of Color. It’s left of center in case you were wondering.

Over at TSMM, the posted wait time was 50 minutes, but we decided to get in line anyway. While in line we visited with a woman who had a little girl who was not even 2. SO cute. She was from Las Vegas. Dave snuck out of line and got us all some drinks and was able to rejoin the line since we were still outside the building! We all rode and the wait ended up being about 35 minutes.



Then we walked all the way around the bay to find a spot to watch World of Color. Even with FPs people line up in their respective sections really early. There are a lot of posts, railings and a few trees to work around for a good view. We moved up a little higher back and ended up standing/sitting next to a high school band from Utah! They were so funny – they were singing and all that – we joked that they were in band, not choir, for good reason!

The show was great – it lasted 30 minutes. I thought it was really cool – Dave thought it was okay. I think he has other nighttime shows he likes better. So I took no pictures. I wonder what happened? I really do remember taking pictures when we met Lightning McQueen. Hmmmm….I am sure I have nighttime pictures of Radiator Springs and Carsland from another night. I guess you'll all just have to wait! Sorry.

After the show, we let a little of the crowd disperse before heading out. We weren’t in any hurry – we could just sneak in the secret private GC entrance/exit and we were in our room in 10 minutes! That was so COOL!!
The elevator floor - I had been wanting a picture, but we were rarely the only ones in it!


Sarah got showered and we all went to bed! I think she had a pretty good 13th birthday!

Tomorrow - A little of this, a little of that. A little CA, a little MK!
And a nice dinner!!

 

[eandesmom]

All caught up!

Smart of Dave to hit the other side for the dole whip float, I think most folks (ok me) don't realize there is a second side until you are almost at your turn anyway! That is a long time to wait for F! I've still not seen it at DL but would like to.

Sarah's bday sounds pretty great other than the lost hour of sleep. Impressed that you fit all that in to one day!!!!!

RSR....yes, may well be best ride ever!

 

[MEK]

I have to say that Sarah must have had one of the best birthdays EVER! You really did do so much that day!

World of Color sounds amazing from all reports. I'm surprised Dave didn't love it. Maybe it who the band (who thought they were the choir) that did him in.

Wow - that has got to be the prettiest floor I have EVER seen in an elevator! Amazing!

 

[KatMark]

What a great birthday for Sarah!

Glad you made your fastpass for RSR and got to do Toy Story Mania.

I've heard great things about World of Color; I'm glad that you enjoyed it and sorry Dave didn't care for it as much as you.

Anxious to hear about a little CA and a little MK.

 

[jenseib]

I think she had an awesome birthday!!!

Loving the Cali beach pictures too. I think this is just down the stretch from Venice, where I went. I loved the area...so pretty!

 

[annmarieda]

What a nice evening! I think WoC is pretty cool. The night we saw it though I was super distracted and even though we had priority seating I felt like didn't get a good spot to stand. (my biggest complaint about DLR shows...the standing as opposed to sitting)

 

[Poolrat]

You made good use of the evening. RSR and WoC.

So odd that TSMM isn't like it is at WDW, no FP and yes that was a line wait but not the extremes you see at DHS.

Sarah had a great birthday.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

All caught up!

Smart of Dave to hit the other side for the dole whip float, I think most folks (ok me) don't realize there is a second side until you are almost at your turn anyway! That is a long time to wait for F! I've still not seen it at DL but would like to.

Sarah's bday sounds pretty great other than the lost hour of sleep. Impressed that you fit all that in to one day!!!!!

RSR....yes, may well be best ride ever!

I do make it easy to catch up - one update every week or two!
I don't think anyone knows you can go around the dole whip stand. It's not obvious. F! is a weird set up there. I did think about buying the dessert party package so I knew we'd have a spot, but I'm too cheap. I had read it wasn't that worth it.
Sarah has had some pretty great birthdays since it often falls on or near our spring break trips. Cruises, Paris/London, California! Lucky kid! But next year our break is at the end of March right before Easter.
LOVE RSR!!!

I have to say that Sarah must have had one of the best birthdays EVER! You really did do so much that day!

World of Color sounds amazing from all reports. I'm surprised Dave didn't love it. Maybe it who the band (who thought they were the choir) that did him in.

Wow - that has got to be the prettiest floor I have EVER seen in an elevator! Amazing!

It was a fun day. She's had great birthdays the last few years!
Dave just thought he's seen other shows he likes better - Wishes and Illuminations are faves. He really liked Fantasmic at DL.

What a great birthday for Sarah!

Glad you made your fastpass for RSR and got to do Toy Story Mania.

I've heard great things about World of Color; I'm glad that you enjoyed it and sorry Dave didn't care for it as much as you.

Anxious to hear about a little CA and a little MK.

It was a great day! I keep reminding her how lucky she is! HA!
We had so much fun on that trip all around.
More to come - eventually. I've gotten super busy since the 4th and hope to keep going on this but it's so hard to find time!

I think she had an awesome birthday!!!

Loving the Cali beach pictures too. I think this is just down the stretch from Venice, where I went. I loved the area...so pretty!

She did, didn't she?!
Your beach pictures were awesome too! It was so nice there.

What a nice evening! I think WoC is pretty cool. The night we saw it though I was super distracted and even though we had priority seating I felt like didn't get a good spot to stand. (my biggest complaint about DLR shows...the standing as opposed to sitting)

I agree with you about the standing! It's like because they came up with these shows after they designed the parks, there is no way to build any seating. It was rather uncomfortable and I feel bad for those who might be less able to stand.

You made good use of the evening. RSR and WoC.

So odd that TSMM isn't like it is at WDW, no FP and yes that was a line wait but not the extremes you see at DHS.

Sarah had a great birthday.

it was interesting to note all the differences between DL and WDW. Some good, some not. I found that I really enjoyed the parks and we had a great trip, but I did feel like there were some things that WDW does better. Maybe it's just because I'm more used to the WDW way. But then again, some things DL did better.

 

[Mndisneygirl]

Monday March 10

The plan was to get up early for EMH at California Adventure, and get on Radiator Springs Racers. Unfortunately, that was everyone else’s plan too!!
We saw about a million people (Okay, maybe a couple hundred) lined up at our special entrance! How DARE they! So we went around to the main entrance to the EMH line, which was plenty long and the NON-EMH lines were already started over an hour before park opening! CRAZY!!!
We entered the park about 8:15. EVERYONE went toward RSR! It was like the mad rush for Toy Story at DHS. But worse.
It was 45 minutes to get through and wait in the standby line. NO thank you.
We went and got some breakfast at Flo’s




DH waited in the FP line to get FPs (it’s at the entrance to Carsland near Bugs land, not by RSR) and that opened at 9.
I think the girls may have gone on Luigi's Flying Tires and Mater's junkyard jamboree while I shopped here:









Lightning McQueen and Mater led the crowd down the road to RSR. I flattened myself against the railing by Mater's and watched.






We got FPs for 9:45-10:45.
So we went and rode Toy Story over in Paradise Pier.




We came back and it was time to ride RSR!
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