Disneyland Debriefing
OK - so you want to know how my Disneyland trip went. Well, it went something like this:
Friday: We were supposed to leave by noon, but didn’t get under way until about 2 PM. Drove to Sacramento (about a 9.5 hour drive), arriving around 11:30 PM or so.
Saturday: Left Sacramento around 7:00 AM, drove to Los Angeles (about a 7.5 hour drive), arriving around 2:30 PM. “American Girl” tea started at 4:00 PM – the girls attended. We guys were going to go to the Radio and Television Museum, but we got a flat tire which spoiled our plans. But if it had to happen, now was the best time to do so. Left Los Angeles around 6:00 PM and drove to Oceanside (just North of San Diego, about 1.5 hour drive).
Sunday: Spent the entire day at Sea World – They opened at 10:00 AM and closed at 7:30 PM. If you’ve not been, go if you can. Spend the entire day.
Monday: Parental units had a “day off” and visited the local beach. The rest of us went to Legoland. Spent the day there – they opened at 10:00 Am, closed at 5:00 PM. Most of the rides there are geared towards smaller kids (pre-teens). The Lego sculptures are cool. We didn’t see much of “Mini-Land”, where they have scale replicas of Cities, because of time constraints. Drove back to Anaheim.
Tuesday: Disneyland (Day 1). Apparently, Tuesday and Thursday are “Magic Mornings” where the park opens 1-hour earlier. But you have to have purchased a “Magic Morning” with your ticket. A “regular” ticket won’t get you in early. We had one “Magic Morning” on our 5-day passes and opted to use it our first day. We were able to ‘hit’ most of “Fantasyland” and “Toontown”. We had a late lunch (2:40 PM) at the Blue Bayou Café – everyone had the world-famous Monte Cristo sandwich. Mmmm…Monte Cristo *drool*. Pop and I left around 6 PM (park stays open ‘til 8:00PM), everyone else stayed until closing. I had to get some stuff done for work, so spent a couple of hours doing that.
Wednesday: Disneyland (Day 2). The only day it rained. The day started with a light drizzle (but most Southern Californians would call it “rain”) – didn’t bother us (we’re from Portland, you know – we’re used to it). Sun tried to come out, but was only partially successful. Started to “really” rain later in the day. We ‘hit’ “Adventureland”, “Tomorrowland”, and “Critter Country”. We all left around 5 PM.
Thursday: Parental units took the morning off – the rest of us went to Disneyland until around 1 PM. We ‘hit’ “Frontierland”. Then everyone but me went to Knott’s Berry Farm for the rest of the day.
Friday: Spent the morning “mopping-up” most of what we missed at Disneyland, then spent the day at “Disney’s California Adventure” (DCA) until they closed at 9 PM. Parental units left; the rest of us went back to Disneyland, mainly to watch the “Fantasmic” pyrotechnic show. Major niece meltdown (more on this later).
Saturday: Matterhorn open today (was closed rest of week). We went to Disneyland to ride the Matterhorn, monorail, and train. Finished-off a couple of “California Adventure” attractions. Left for home around 2 PM. Drove to Red Bluff (about 9 hour drive), arriving around 11:30 PM.
Sunday: Had breakfast with family friend; didn’t get on the road until about 10:30 AM. Got home around 6:30 PM.
Ok, so much for the schedule. Now some particulars.
My sister can really frustrate me. We agree on a plan and then she changes it. Usually not a big deal – plans need to be flexible, I understand this. However, this one time, she changed the plan and had the rest of us waiting for 20 minuets, at least. Not cool. We were supposed to be hitting the “Grizzly River Run” at DCA. My niece wanted to run through the “Redwood Creek Challenge Trail”, which is nearby. OK. Sister said “5 minutes”, not knowing there was a line for one of the elements that took another 20 minutes. Meanwhile (back at the ranch), the rest of us are waiting…and waiting…and waiting. I went to find my sister, found her, and then tried to get across that we were waiting. Basically ignored. I decided to let my brother-in-law go talk to her, ‘cuz I would have exploded. What she should have done was do everything except that one element, come find us and then either go on the ‘rapids’ ride first and go back to that one element, or at least tell us it would be several minutes to do that one element so we could do something besides wait. Oh well. We did end up running out of time and weren’t able to do everything we wanted at DCA that day, but overall, it was fine.
The only other ‘frustrating sister moment’ was on Tuesday, when we went over to DCA to watch the “Disney-Pixar Parade”. We get in position about 10 minutes before start of parade; sister and niece head to restroom – understandable. I’m trying to ‘save’ a place for them but time is ticking away and no sign of them. Finally, about 2 minutes before the start, here they come – I try to motion to them to hurry – basically ignored. I hate that. They made it in time, but I think we ended up ‘displacing’ a person or two (I hate doing that). Oh well. Only having 2 frustrating moments is pretty good. Can’t let that interfere with having fun, so we didn’t.
Meltdown story. Background: We had a total of 6 people (parental units, brother-in-law, sister, niece, and myself), each with a 5-day “park-hopper pass”, which let’s you go back and forth from Disneyland to DCA as often as you want during park hours. When you first enter one of the parks, you present your ticket. When you leave, you “must” get your hand stamped and present your ticket to be let back in. Why you need to be stamped if you show your ticket is something we never figured out; especially when they never even looked for a hand stamp when coming back in. But I digress. We all have neck lanyards to carry our passes and everyone hangs them on their necks so we know where they are at all times.
Ok, so it’s Friday night, we’re in DCA, and it’s late; park is closing in 30 minutes – we have time for one last attraction. “We” choose the Muppet’s 3D. While we are waiting, niece is bored, so she starts doing cartwheels. We watch the show and then when it’s over, the parental units head back to the Hotel. After we see them off, we head to the lockers to drop off stuff. We then head to the Disneyland entrance. As I am about to go through the gate, I hear “Wait, we have a problem!”
It seems that my niece had taken off her ticket when she was doing cartwheels and put it on top of the backpack that was in my dad’s scooter basket (we rented scooters for the parental units so they wouldn’t have to walk – there is a lot of walking…). So now she doesn’t know where it is. We figure it’s somewhere between “Muppets 3D” in DCA and where we are. But DCA is closed. My sister freaks out and yells at my niece (not trying to hurt her feelings, but because she’s freaked) and of course my niece starts to cry ‘cuz she’s thinking she won’t be able to get back in to Disneyland. We go and talk to the gate security people and see what we can do. The gate people were very cool and tried to comfort my niece and told her that they were not going to not let her in, but we had to figure out what needed to be done. So after listening to what options were available, we decided to try calling parental units to see if they maybe remember seeing the pass.
Fortunately, my dad did indeed see her just put the pass on top of the backpack and he put it IN the backpack. So I go back and look in the backpack (which is back at the lockers) and sure enough, there it is. Crisis averted.
I wish I could have recorded the whole episode. Not to be cruel, but for several other reasons: a good lesson is learned, it was a heart-wrenching moment that turns out OK, and it showcases the one thing that all Disneyland employees (as far as we could see, anyway) excel at – customer service. If we couldn’t find the pass, they could void the lost one and then print out a new one, so there was a plan in place and everything would have been fine, one way or the other.
So there it is – at least most of the highlights. I could probably come up with another story or two, if pressed, but that covers the major events.
All-in-all, a good trip; fun was had by all.
Friday: We were supposed to leave by noon, but didn’t get under way until about 2 PM. Drove to Sacramento (about a 9.5 hour drive), arriving around 11:30 PM or so.
Saturday: Left Sacramento around 7:00 AM, drove to Los Angeles (about a 7.5 hour drive), arriving around 2:30 PM. “American Girl” tea started at 4:00 PM – the girls attended. We guys were going to go to the Radio and Television Museum, but we got a flat tire which spoiled our plans. But if it had to happen, now was the best time to do so. Left Los Angeles around 6:00 PM and drove to Oceanside (just North of San Diego, about 1.5 hour drive).
Sunday: Spent the entire day at Sea World – They opened at 10:00 AM and closed at 7:30 PM. If you’ve not been, go if you can. Spend the entire day.
Monday: Parental units had a “day off” and visited the local beach. The rest of us went to Legoland. Spent the day there – they opened at 10:00 Am, closed at 5:00 PM. Most of the rides there are geared towards smaller kids (pre-teens). The Lego sculptures are cool. We didn’t see much of “Mini-Land”, where they have scale replicas of Cities, because of time constraints. Drove back to Anaheim.
Tuesday: Disneyland (Day 1). Apparently, Tuesday and Thursday are “Magic Mornings” where the park opens 1-hour earlier. But you have to have purchased a “Magic Morning” with your ticket. A “regular” ticket won’t get you in early. We had one “Magic Morning” on our 5-day passes and opted to use it our first day. We were able to ‘hit’ most of “Fantasyland” and “Toontown”. We had a late lunch (2:40 PM) at the Blue Bayou Café – everyone had the world-famous Monte Cristo sandwich. Mmmm…Monte Cristo *drool*. Pop and I left around 6 PM (park stays open ‘til 8:00PM), everyone else stayed until closing. I had to get some stuff done for work, so spent a couple of hours doing that.
Wednesday: Disneyland (Day 2). The only day it rained. The day started with a light drizzle (but most Southern Californians would call it “rain”) – didn’t bother us (we’re from Portland, you know – we’re used to it). Sun tried to come out, but was only partially successful. Started to “really” rain later in the day. We ‘hit’ “Adventureland”, “Tomorrowland”, and “Critter Country”. We all left around 5 PM.
Thursday: Parental units took the morning off – the rest of us went to Disneyland until around 1 PM. We ‘hit’ “Frontierland”. Then everyone but me went to Knott’s Berry Farm for the rest of the day.
Friday: Spent the morning “mopping-up” most of what we missed at Disneyland, then spent the day at “Disney’s California Adventure” (DCA) until they closed at 9 PM. Parental units left; the rest of us went back to Disneyland, mainly to watch the “Fantasmic” pyrotechnic show. Major niece meltdown (more on this later).
Saturday: Matterhorn open today (was closed rest of week). We went to Disneyland to ride the Matterhorn, monorail, and train. Finished-off a couple of “California Adventure” attractions. Left for home around 2 PM. Drove to Red Bluff (about 9 hour drive), arriving around 11:30 PM.
Sunday: Had breakfast with family friend; didn’t get on the road until about 10:30 AM. Got home around 6:30 PM.
Ok, so much for the schedule. Now some particulars.
My sister can really frustrate me. We agree on a plan and then she changes it. Usually not a big deal – plans need to be flexible, I understand this. However, this one time, she changed the plan and had the rest of us waiting for 20 minuets, at least. Not cool. We were supposed to be hitting the “Grizzly River Run” at DCA. My niece wanted to run through the “Redwood Creek Challenge Trail”, which is nearby. OK. Sister said “5 minutes”, not knowing there was a line for one of the elements that took another 20 minutes. Meanwhile (back at the ranch), the rest of us are waiting…and waiting…and waiting. I went to find my sister, found her, and then tried to get across that we were waiting. Basically ignored. I decided to let my brother-in-law go talk to her, ‘cuz I would have exploded. What she should have done was do everything except that one element, come find us and then either go on the ‘rapids’ ride first and go back to that one element, or at least tell us it would be several minutes to do that one element so we could do something besides wait. Oh well. We did end up running out of time and weren’t able to do everything we wanted at DCA that day, but overall, it was fine.
The only other ‘frustrating sister moment’ was on Tuesday, when we went over to DCA to watch the “Disney-Pixar Parade”. We get in position about 10 minutes before start of parade; sister and niece head to restroom – understandable. I’m trying to ‘save’ a place for them but time is ticking away and no sign of them. Finally, about 2 minutes before the start, here they come – I try to motion to them to hurry – basically ignored. I hate that. They made it in time, but I think we ended up ‘displacing’ a person or two (I hate doing that). Oh well. Only having 2 frustrating moments is pretty good. Can’t let that interfere with having fun, so we didn’t.
Meltdown story. Background: We had a total of 6 people (parental units, brother-in-law, sister, niece, and myself), each with a 5-day “park-hopper pass”, which let’s you go back and forth from Disneyland to DCA as often as you want during park hours. When you first enter one of the parks, you present your ticket. When you leave, you “must” get your hand stamped and present your ticket to be let back in. Why you need to be stamped if you show your ticket is something we never figured out; especially when they never even looked for a hand stamp when coming back in. But I digress. We all have neck lanyards to carry our passes and everyone hangs them on their necks so we know where they are at all times.
Ok, so it’s Friday night, we’re in DCA, and it’s late; park is closing in 30 minutes – we have time for one last attraction. “We” choose the Muppet’s 3D. While we are waiting, niece is bored, so she starts doing cartwheels. We watch the show and then when it’s over, the parental units head back to the Hotel. After we see them off, we head to the lockers to drop off stuff. We then head to the Disneyland entrance. As I am about to go through the gate, I hear “Wait, we have a problem!”
It seems that my niece had taken off her ticket when she was doing cartwheels and put it on top of the backpack that was in my dad’s scooter basket (we rented scooters for the parental units so they wouldn’t have to walk – there is a lot of walking…). So now she doesn’t know where it is. We figure it’s somewhere between “Muppets 3D” in DCA and where we are. But DCA is closed. My sister freaks out and yells at my niece (not trying to hurt her feelings, but because she’s freaked) and of course my niece starts to cry ‘cuz she’s thinking she won’t be able to get back in to Disneyland. We go and talk to the gate security people and see what we can do. The gate people were very cool and tried to comfort my niece and told her that they were not going to not let her in, but we had to figure out what needed to be done. So after listening to what options were available, we decided to try calling parental units to see if they maybe remember seeing the pass.
Fortunately, my dad did indeed see her just put the pass on top of the backpack and he put it IN the backpack. So I go back and look in the backpack (which is back at the lockers) and sure enough, there it is. Crisis averted.
I wish I could have recorded the whole episode. Not to be cruel, but for several other reasons: a good lesson is learned, it was a heart-wrenching moment that turns out OK, and it showcases the one thing that all Disneyland employees (as far as we could see, anyway) excel at – customer service. If we couldn’t find the pass, they could void the lost one and then print out a new one, so there was a plan in place and everything would have been fine, one way or the other.
So there it is – at least most of the highlights. I could probably come up with another story or two, if pressed, but that covers the major events.
All-in-all, a good trip; fun was had by all.
posted by TubaMeister at
15:52
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