[Dana]

wow...that place is GORGEOUS!!! Keep the report and pics coming!

[evansfmly5]

I would like to start by thanking everyone for your kind words and encouragement. I will press on with my TR.

i will start tonight with some construction pics. One bad thing about going off season is you usually have to deal with such things but it is usually done at night.

It was strange, though, that there were entire sections of main street closed off by strangely colored partitions. You will see some of them in the pics. One CM said it was for a new parade.

A few attractions were closed, but none of the ones we really wanted to ride.

That's my DD in the second pic wearing the wings.

[evansfmly5]

At CA Adventure, they had the water drained out of the main body of water by the boardwalk. I believe I heard someone say they were working on a Fantasmic type show. They were also working on the Sunwheel so it was closed. As long as TS Mania's open I'm good!

[evansfmly5]

And last but not least here are some pics of GCV under construction. Not the greatest. They go to great lengths to make sure you can't take a good picture.

[evansfmly5]

OK...enough of that. On to the good stuff. We got up early Sun. morning to get to DL by 8 a.m. I will take a step back and mention that we were invited by my brother to, and I quote "close DTD". We declined because of the early entry we were going to attempt. For some this task is easy, others, like us, just really enjoy sleeping in. Well, to my surprise, my brother calls at 7:30 asking if we were going early. He didn't sound too good but once he joined us in line he got into the swing of things. Speaking of the line there was probably only 2 or 300 people waiting to get in at 8. We practically had the place to our selves. Getting on the good rides was a snap!

[evansfmly5]

We rode Space Mountain, Finding Nemo, The Matterhorn, and Splash Mountain in an hour and a half. Here are some pics I snapped on the was to SM. It was strangely empty. I would imagine for some this isn't out of the ordinary but, as I mentioned before we rarely make it early. You can imagine how often we make it into early entry in DW 3 hours behind. We do the after hours just fine...lol

[evansfmly5]

After Splash Mountain, we had to get to Main St. to get my DW a coffee before she went into a caffeine deprived state of shock. After that it was off to the room to check out just in time. We had a little time so we went back to CA Adventure to ride TS one more time. We tried to have clam chowder in a bread bowl on the pier but it was too crowded so we headed for Story Tellers Cafe in GC. We got right in and had a great lunch.

[DiZ NeE O8]

is that clam chowder in the bread bowl pretty good?

[evansfmly5]

Originally Posted by DiZ NeE O8

is that clam chowder in the bread bowl pretty good?

Yes, the clam chowder in the bowl is really good. My DD loves it. We always share one because they are kinda big.

[evansfmly5]

After lunch we headed out for our 1 o'clock appointment with our DVC guide Heidi. She is really nice and used to be Mary Poppins in DL when she was younger. Very cool! Anyway, we finished up there and headed for home around 3 p.m. My leadfoot DS had us home by 8:15. Well, that's our trip. I've got some misc pics I'll post to wrap it up. Thanks for reading and I hope I get to read 100 of yours before we go to WDW in Sept.

[StaceyDarling!]

I had never been interesting in DL before, I was strictly a WDW person, but recently I have been learning more about the parks, and I am interested in a short trip to there, just to experience DL for once. But I couldn't imagine myself vacationing there. Everytime I try to think about it i become so anxious about going there and missing out on everything WDW has to offer!

Have to say, I'm still a WDW person, but it does interest me... :D Most learn more! haha.

Thanks for this post!!

[StaceyDarling!]

Originally Posted by evansfmly5

We used DVC points and booked a standard room but got anything but. We got room 4421. It had a view of DTD. I really believe they treat DVC members better but I don't know. Maybe we just got lucky. Here are some pics of the room:

The Grand Californian is sooo gorgeous! I would definitley love to stay there!

[Experiment6-2-6]

Originally Posted by evansfmly5

At CA Adventure, they had the water drained out of the main body of water by the boardwalk. I believe I heard someone say they were working on a Fantasmic type show. They were also working on the Sunwheel so it was closed. As long as TS Mania's open I'm good!

Wow, I've never seen it empty like that before!!

Having a Fantasmic type in CAR show would be wicked cool!

[dancing4disney]

Great trip report. I really want to go to DL sometime!

[evansfmly5]

Originally Posted by Experiment6-2-6

If I could afford it, I would stay at the GC each time I was at Disneyland. With Downtown Disney inplace and the removal of the original Disneyland Hotel, it really is the closest hotel to the parks. And, as you mentioned earlier, a private access to California Adventure. (Which, while you have to be staying at the hotel to go into CAR, they are nice enough to let ANYONE out FROM the park..

I have to agree...It's the best hotel with the best location. Usually we stay at the DL Hotel but every time we walk by the GC we say "man, I wish we were staying there!"