[alextina]

We are back from our quick trip to Disneyland and luckily we got out just before the fires closed down the airports:whistle:

Cast:

Me, DD, DM.

Day one: We arrived in CA at 11:00 a.m. and headed straight for the DL hotel, we were not able to check in until 3:00 p.m. so after leaving our bags at the bell desk we headed out to DTD for some lunch. We decided to go to the Rainforest Cafe as this is one our favorite places in FL. DM had a burger, DD had the mac 'n' cheese, and I had a chicken sandwich that had roasted red peppers. Lunch was great except DD who is now 2 just about lost it when there was a thunderstorm inside the restaurant.:laugh After our lunch we took a walk over to the world of Disney which is at the very end of DTD near the park entrances. After The World of Disney we decided to head back towards the hotel and we hit just about every shop on the way. --Note: The World of Disney was nice but only about half the size of the store at DTD in WDW all of the other stores in DTD unlike FL were not disney related which was a bit of a disappointment to me:nooo:, anyhow, we arrived back at the DL hotel and our room was still not ready so we decided to check out the shops at the hotel and pick up a sweatshirt for DD and myself as we had not brought sweaters and were told that it would be rather chilly in the morning. After picking out a couple of sweatshirts we checked in again and our room was finally ready. The room was nice, it was about the same size as the rooms at the deluxe WDW resorts but had a very small balcony (one person could barely fit between the railing and the sliding glass doors), there was a tinkerbell boarder around the whole room which I thought was cute and the lamp shades had stars and moons on them. After getting settled we decided to go pick up some dinner and then get back and off to bed so that we can get an early start.

Day 2: DD rises about 5:30 a.m. which is normal for her (6:30 at home). So we get up and watch cartoons for a while then slowly get ready for our big day. We are headed to Disneyland by about 8 a.m. the monorail is not operating so we take a walk through DTD and stop at the La Brea Bakery for some coffee and fruit. Once DD has finished her fruit and DM and me have finished our coffee there is already a pretty long line to get into DL so we head off to get our place in line. By 9:00 a.m. we are headed towards the HM which is my main reason for going to DL (I just have to see the HM Holiday) we get to the entrance by about 9:05 and are turned away because it is not ready, so we decided to go ride POC which had no wait:D we walked right onto the ride and off we went I LOVE THIS RIDE (PS--POC is the only thing about DL that is better than WDW) once we are off POC we head back towards HM which is now open, once again there is no wait we walk right into the HM. I had posted a question a while back "Is it worth going to DL just to see the transformed HM?" well I got my answer now keep in mind that we are not that far from CA so I guess if I had to travel across the country my answer might be different but in my opinion YES it is DEFINATELY worth it. This ride was so awesome. They changed absolutely every aspect of the ride, every room, every scene was changed to reflect Jack Skellington's holiday vision. :D AWESOME:D . After HM we were off to ride Dumbo and the carousel which DD loved, by now it is close to 11:30 and we have a PS at Blue Bayou (the restaurant inside POC) so we head over to Blue Bayou and are the very first people seated, we got a table right on the water, WOW what a neat place! Just imagine eating dinner while watching boats float by, listening to crickets chirping, fire fly's buzzing, all while sitting under a moon lite sky:p needless to say it was really nice. The lunch special which DM and I both had was grilled salmon, grilled shrimp, fried shrimp, and fried calamari MMMMM GOOD!! (DD had fallen asleep while we were waiting to be seated and she slept through the entire meal).

After lunch we shopped a little bit then when DD finally woke up we got her some lunch, went to ToonTown for awhile and then decide to go back to the hotel for a little rest. (the monorail is still not operating:( ).

After a bit of rest and relaxation we headed back to DL about 4:30 p.m. and (still no monorail) and arrived back at the park just in time for the parade of the stars. After the parade we rode POC again (this is my favorite ride:laugh ), then the Jungle cruise, Pinnochio, and Winnie the Pooh. By now it is around 7:00 and DD is beginning to get a little cranky so we decide to hit main street do a bit more shopping:love: and head on back to our room. We woke up early Saturday morning and were at Goofy's Kitchen by about 7:15 a.m. for a character breakfast. This was great! they had an amazing selection on food and DD absolutely loved all the characters.

All in all this was a great trip although it was pretty short:cry: . We were supposed to leave CA on Sunday October 26 but decided shortly before our trip that 3 days away from Daddy would be all that DD could handle so we decided to come back on Saturday October 25. All I can say is thank God for last minute decisions, if we had waited until Sunday to come back as originally planned we would probably still be in CA.

When we were waiting outside of the DL hotel(approx. 10:30 a.m.) for our bus to arrive and take us to the airport you could actually see the ashes falling out of the sky it looked like snow flurries landing on our black suit cases. By the time we were in our airplane the smoke had pretty much blocked out the sun (it was just a little red dot in the sky) and the snow flurries (ashes) seemed to be falling a bit faster. It was amazing I had never seen anything like it and was very happy to be leaving.:nervous

Disneyland was a ton of fun, however, there were an awful lot of rides that were closed --BTMRR (I know, I know), It's a small world was closed because they transform that for the holidays as well and it was in the process of being transformed, the monorail was down the whole time, Space Mountain was closed, and the People mover (I don't know what it is called now) was closed. In the end we had a lot of fun but IMHO DL cannot compare to WDW. DTD was not really Disney they only had the World of Disney and all of the other shops were chains. You can see the park from the freeway and side streets which I didn't care for, I like the feeling you get when driving through the gates at WDW that you are entering and entirely different place. The outside world is gone not just on the other side of a barb wire fence. Which you can see!!!:nervous

[Dana]

Glad you enjoyed your trip to DL. It sounds al though you loved the HM. IT must have been pretty cool. Good thing you decided to cut that trip a day early. I can't even imagine how scary the ashes must be for people who have never experienced it. (I would have been terrified) I can honestly say that your description of the feeling you get when you enter the gates of WDW is the same exact one I get. It's like entering a completely different world. I love that feeling. It's like a paradise or gateway into another dimension. Thanks for the report. I enjoyed it.:)

[DisneyTeacher]

What a wonderful trip. I have never been to DL but would love to go someday just to compare and to say I have been there, to the original. I am glad you had a good time and got home safe before the fires got bad enough to close the airports.

[Thumper]

Sounds like you had a wonderful trip, despite the many attactions that were closed! Glad that you made it out of CA before the airports closed down, that would have terrible to be stranded there! Good thing you trusted your instincts!

We have been there for the holiday transformation of HM, and it is amazing! We have a family tradition of eating at Blue Bayou, can't beat that atmosphere!

We have been to both DL and WDW, and I agree - WDW beats DL, hands down. But, I have always felt that if you just compare the DL park (no CA Adventure) and Magic Kingdom, DL wins. Some of the attactions are just better, mainly because there seems to be greater detail in them, especially Small World - did you get to see the outside of the ride? When they light it up for Christmas, it is breathtaking! And with Matterhorn, Indiana Jones, and Roger Rabbit... they should put them all at WDW too, then it would be perfect! But, for an all out family vacation - I'll take WDW anyday, we plan shorter excusions for DL!

Oh my, looks like I have gotten carried away! :) Sorry to be so long winded, just got so excited thinking about the parks!

[alextina]

Thumper, I have to agree that several of the rides at DL are better than at WDW especially POC which is my absolute favorite ride and I would love it if they would add Indiana Jones, and Roger Rabbit to WDW. I have been to DL before so I have seen It's A Small World and it is amazing but unfortunately on this trip they had a wall up around it because they were in the process of the transformation so all we could see was the very top of the building. As for the Matterhorn they are building Expedition Everest at AK and I think that will be very similar to the Matterhorn just more modern. I can't wait until it opens! :) All in All though we had a great trip. It was a ton of fun and I am sure we will go back it just probably won't be every year like WDW.:D

[LRTJS]

I enjoyed your report as I have never been to DL. I would love to. I liked what you said about DW being a whole different world because that is how I feel. It would be wonderful if we could get an updated POC and a holiday HM. The restraunt sounded beautiful. Thanks again, and glad you got home before the smoke emergency. :D

[inluvwithdisney]

Glad you had a good time!! Unfortunately, just like WDW off season means less lines but then some attractions are down too!! :) :)

[BDavis932]

Thanks for the great trip report!! I can't wait to go there someday!!!

[cbeccaboo2]

Sounds like you all had a nice short trip to DL. Glad you made it out of CA in time to make it home. I think I'll stay with WDW in FL though.:D Really enjoyed your trip report. Thanks for sharing it with us. DD did really well for being away from Daddy.

:heart :) :) :heart

Becca