ForTheLoveOfDCL
A Dream is a wish your
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2008
I am loving the trip report. And love the shirt. Still wishing we were able to take the Mouseketeer cruise...Maybe we will cruise again together!!
Princesses, Pirates and Pumpkins
- Thread starter dolphingirl47
- Start date
princess jackson
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Feb 25, 2005
Great report 
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
I am sure it will happen eventually.
Sounds like a great day! I know it was nice weather when you were there, but somehow the pictures of the pool look cold!
I think that may be because the pools were cold. This was still pretty early in the morning and there was a bit of a chill in the air. I did not get around to using the pools until after the cruise, but Graham went swimming that day and he described the pools as "refreshing". Now what he calls refreshing is usually way too cold for my liking.
Corinna
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
I love your reports, Corinna! SO glad you take lots of trips
There will be at least one less next year. I have made up my mind to apply for British citizenship as soon as I come back from the Hawaii cruise. Once the application is in, I can then not leave the country until my application has been decided and if it is successful, I have a new passport.
Corinna
ForTheLoveOfDCL
A Dream is a wish your
- Joined
- Sep 17, 2008
How long can this take??? Can't imagine you not cruising 3-4 times a year and no trip reports...
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
How long can this take??? Can't imagine you not cruising 3-4 times a year and no trip reports...
Up to 6 months, but I have some colleagues that have recently gone through it and it has taken between 5 weeks and 2 months for the naturalization certificate to come through and then about a month for the passport.
Corinna
How long can this take??? Can't imagine you not cruising 3-4 times a year and no trip reports...
Perhaps you can do some trips around the UK and give us trip reports with your great photos of those!
skiingfast
<font color=teal>Has had no bacon<br><font color=b
- Joined
- Mar 12, 2010
Perhaps you can do some trips around the UK and give us trip reports with your great photos of those!
Intrigueing.
Perhaps you can do some trips around the UK and give us trip reports with your great photos of those!
Yes please!!
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Day 4
We were awake nice and early again and ready for our breakfast. Before I went to bed last night, I read the information folder that was in the room and realised that Paradise Pier Hotel has a character breakfast with Stitch. Well, Stitch is the second biggest love of my life and this was a real temptation. I did not think I would get away with this as we had a character breakfast already and I also had another character meal booked. So I was quite surprised when Graham asked if I thought that we would get in without a reservation. I figured it was worth a try. The Paradise Pier Hotel is right across the road from Grand Californian Hotel and it was still early.
As soon as we crossed the road, I could see Stitch passing by the windows. The restaurant looked fairly empty. We went up to the podium and they had no problem to fit us in. Before we were seated, we had our photo taken with Mickey. We then were taken to our table and let loose at the buffet. Pluto and Stitch came to visit in pretty short order and a bit later, Daisy and Minnie came by as well. Because the restaurant was so empty, some of the characters came by multiple times. Stitch was one of them, but he must have an off day, as he was not his usual mischievous self. The food was pretty standard buffet breakfast fare, but they had a few unusual dishes. They had a few breakfast flatbreads, some lovely marinated chicken fillets and Chilaquiles. I had never come across Chilaquiles before. Apparently they are a typical Mexican Breakfast dish and consist of fried tortilla pieces, salsa, scrambled eggs, cheese, shredded beef and sour cream.
When we finished breakfast, there was a huge line of people waiting to get into the restaurant. I was glad that we were finished. We had a quick look around the hotel and then headed back to our hotel.
I got ready for another day at the parks and then headed out. Grand Californian has a private entrance to Disney's California Adventure, which can only be used by people staying a the 3 Disney hotels. Another perk for staying onsite is that hotel guests can enter the park at 9:15 every morning. This means that hotel guests are able to get World of Colour Fastpasses before the general public. They are distributed from the Fastpass machines at Grizzly River Run. The new Little Mermaid ride also opens at 9:15, with Soarin opening at 9:30 and the rest of the park opens at 10:00, when the general public can come in.
I got to the entrance at around 9:00 to find a huge line that was snaking back on itself. Mercifully, this moved very quickly once the gates opened and I was in the park by about 9:20. A nice touch was that I was welcomed by name. I have had annual passes for both Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney World before, but this had never happened. At Disneyland, it happened every time I entered a park. I have to say it was a nice touch and made me feel rather special.
Once in the park, people headed straight for the Fastpass machines. So the rest of the park was pretty deserted. I headed straight for The Little Mermaid - Ariels Undersea Adventure, which was a walk on. It is a sweet dark ride that uses the same clamshell vehicles that are used for The Seas with Nemo and Friends. However, this ride falls firmly into the category "ride if there is no line".
Next up was Soarin. This is one of my all time favourite rides. The version in California has several advantages. I like the queuing area a lot better, it does not draw the insane lines that it does at Epcot and it still operates a single rider line. The single rider line was not open yet, but the wait was only 15 minutes. I managed to get a middle seat in row one, so I was very happy. I have done this ride about 200 times now, but I can count the times when I was in row one on my 10 fingers and I was never lucky enough to get a middle seat. On this ride, the experience does really change depending on where you sit.
I was tempted to get straight back into line and do it again, but by this time it was 10:00 and the rest of the park was open. I really wanted to ride Toy Story Midway Mania, so I figured that I better head over there before the lines got too long. I got a little sidetracked on the way, when I spotted Mickey in his blue captain's outfit in a gazebo at the entrance to the Paradise Pier area of the park. It would have been rude not to stop and say "hi" to him and have a photo taken, especially as there was next to no line.
Even with this little detour, there was only a 25 minute wait when I got to Toy Story Midway Mania. I was very happy with this. In 2009, I waited nearly 2 hours for this ride at Walt Disney World. There are a few differences even though the ride itself is the same. At California Adventure, Toy Story Midway Mania is not a Fastpass ride. I had expected that this would make the lines even longer, but the opposite seems to be the case. The line is also almost completely outside and has none of the elaborate themeing of its Walt Disney World counterpart. They have Mr Potato Head plus some posters advertising the games in the short indoor portion. I really enjoyed the ride, but even if the lines had been shorter still, I think that once would have been my limit. The combination of the 3D glasses and the ride being quite jolting and also spinning, I did feel a little queasy when I got off.
I was wandering around for a bit and got talking to a Photopass photographer, who was waiting for Buzz Lightyear. I decided to hang around. He is another character that I had never met. Because I got there before he did, I was first in line.
I decided to check out if Duffy was in his Meet and Greet spot. He was not there, but a cast member in the shop next to his Meet and Greet spot said that he should be out any minute so I hung around in the shop until he had appeared. A couple of families had beaten me to it, but I still had next to no wait to see Duffy.
We were awake nice and early again and ready for our breakfast. Before I went to bed last night, I read the information folder that was in the room and realised that Paradise Pier Hotel has a character breakfast with Stitch. Well, Stitch is the second biggest love of my life and this was a real temptation. I did not think I would get away with this as we had a character breakfast already and I also had another character meal booked. So I was quite surprised when Graham asked if I thought that we would get in without a reservation. I figured it was worth a try. The Paradise Pier Hotel is right across the road from Grand Californian Hotel and it was still early.
As soon as we crossed the road, I could see Stitch passing by the windows. The restaurant looked fairly empty. We went up to the podium and they had no problem to fit us in. Before we were seated, we had our photo taken with Mickey. We then were taken to our table and let loose at the buffet. Pluto and Stitch came to visit in pretty short order and a bit later, Daisy and Minnie came by as well. Because the restaurant was so empty, some of the characters came by multiple times. Stitch was one of them, but he must have an off day, as he was not his usual mischievous self. The food was pretty standard buffet breakfast fare, but they had a few unusual dishes. They had a few breakfast flatbreads, some lovely marinated chicken fillets and Chilaquiles. I had never come across Chilaquiles before. Apparently they are a typical Mexican Breakfast dish and consist of fried tortilla pieces, salsa, scrambled eggs, cheese, shredded beef and sour cream.
When we finished breakfast, there was a huge line of people waiting to get into the restaurant. I was glad that we were finished. We had a quick look around the hotel and then headed back to our hotel.
I got ready for another day at the parks and then headed out. Grand Californian has a private entrance to Disney's California Adventure, which can only be used by people staying a the 3 Disney hotels. Another perk for staying onsite is that hotel guests can enter the park at 9:15 every morning. This means that hotel guests are able to get World of Colour Fastpasses before the general public. They are distributed from the Fastpass machines at Grizzly River Run. The new Little Mermaid ride also opens at 9:15, with Soarin opening at 9:30 and the rest of the park opens at 10:00, when the general public can come in.
I got to the entrance at around 9:00 to find a huge line that was snaking back on itself. Mercifully, this moved very quickly once the gates opened and I was in the park by about 9:20. A nice touch was that I was welcomed by name. I have had annual passes for both Disneyland Paris and Walt Disney World before, but this had never happened. At Disneyland, it happened every time I entered a park. I have to say it was a nice touch and made me feel rather special.
Once in the park, people headed straight for the Fastpass machines. So the rest of the park was pretty deserted. I headed straight for The Little Mermaid - Ariels Undersea Adventure, which was a walk on. It is a sweet dark ride that uses the same clamshell vehicles that are used for The Seas with Nemo and Friends. However, this ride falls firmly into the category "ride if there is no line".
Next up was Soarin. This is one of my all time favourite rides. The version in California has several advantages. I like the queuing area a lot better, it does not draw the insane lines that it does at Epcot and it still operates a single rider line. The single rider line was not open yet, but the wait was only 15 minutes. I managed to get a middle seat in row one, so I was very happy. I have done this ride about 200 times now, but I can count the times when I was in row one on my 10 fingers and I was never lucky enough to get a middle seat. On this ride, the experience does really change depending on where you sit.
I was tempted to get straight back into line and do it again, but by this time it was 10:00 and the rest of the park was open. I really wanted to ride Toy Story Midway Mania, so I figured that I better head over there before the lines got too long. I got a little sidetracked on the way, when I spotted Mickey in his blue captain's outfit in a gazebo at the entrance to the Paradise Pier area of the park. It would have been rude not to stop and say "hi" to him and have a photo taken, especially as there was next to no line.
Even with this little detour, there was only a 25 minute wait when I got to Toy Story Midway Mania. I was very happy with this. In 2009, I waited nearly 2 hours for this ride at Walt Disney World. There are a few differences even though the ride itself is the same. At California Adventure, Toy Story Midway Mania is not a Fastpass ride. I had expected that this would make the lines even longer, but the opposite seems to be the case. The line is also almost completely outside and has none of the elaborate themeing of its Walt Disney World counterpart. They have Mr Potato Head plus some posters advertising the games in the short indoor portion. I really enjoyed the ride, but even if the lines had been shorter still, I think that once would have been my limit. The combination of the 3D glasses and the ride being quite jolting and also spinning, I did feel a little queasy when I got off.
I was wandering around for a bit and got talking to a Photopass photographer, who was waiting for Buzz Lightyear. I decided to hang around. He is another character that I had never met. Because I got there before he did, I was first in line.
I decided to check out if Duffy was in his Meet and Greet spot. He was not there, but a cast member in the shop next to his Meet and Greet spot said that he should be out any minute so I hung around in the shop until he had appeared. A couple of families had beaten me to it, but I still had next to no wait to see Duffy.
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
When I came past the Gazebo with Captain Mickey, I saw that he now had a Photopass photographer with him, so I got back in line for some more photos.
I continued to walk around just enjoying the park and came across a photo opportunity with Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater. This was another new thing for me, so I got in line. There were only four or five families in front of me and the line was moving really quickly.
I decided to cut through A Bug's Land on my way to Hollywood Backlot in order to avoid the worst of the construction. I saw Mickey and Pluto near the entrance, but they were unfortunately just finishing up. However, I was told that Chip and Dale were coming out shortly , so I decided to hang around. Unfortunately they did not have a Photopass photographer with them, but their escort took some photos with my camera.
With the photos all out of the way, I headed onwards to Hollywood Backlot. There is a lot of construction going on there, but this area got a new ride since I had last been to Disneyland. I definitely wanted to try this out. It is a dark ride and is called Monsters Inc Mike and Sully To The Rescue. Again, this was a walk on. The ride works on the premise that Boo has somehow gotten into Monstropolis again and Mike and Sully have to find her and take her back home. Again, this is sweet rather than exciting and would not warrant a long wait, but some of it is rather clever.
At this point I had done everything that I had come to do. I decided to ride Soarin one more time on the way out. The posted wait time was 15 minutes, but I still decided to head through the single rider line. This was the one occasion where I don't think that it actually saved me any time, but a 15 minute wait for the ride is pretty amazing. This time I ended up in row two in an end seat.
I headed back to the hotel and had a bit of down time. It was pretty hot and just stretching out in the relatively cool room felt heavenly. I checked my emails and read my book for a bit, before heading out again. The original plan had been to ride the monorail. The monorail links Downtown Disney with Tomorrowland. I did not plan on staying at Disneyland, but just wanted to ride the monorail there and back. Unfortunately the monorail was down so I explored Downtown Disney instead.
Downtown Disney at Disneyland is quite different from Downtown Disney at Walt Disney World. To start of, it is much smaller. It links the main entrance plaza for Disneyland and California Adventure with the Disneyland Hotel. The Grand Californian Hotel also has an entrance from Downtown Disney, which is about half way. There are a number of restaurants and quick service restaurants. Downtown Disney also has a multiplex cinema and the ESPN Zone, which combines a restaurant with arcade games. Most of the shops have nothing to do with Disney. There is Build A Bear, Sephora, various fashion shops, a book shop, a shop selling flip flops, a shop selling sun glasses, a Lego store and Ride Makerz. Unfortunately Basin has closed as have some other of the more quirky shops that used to be there. It does feel a bit like a main stream shopping mall nowadays. They also have an Alamo office, a Travelex office and a Disney Travel Company office at Downtown Disney. There are also a number of kiosks selling anything from puppets, t shirts to pick a pearl. One of the kiosks sells trading pins. Apart from this pin kiosk, the only shops that are at least vaguely Disney are the big World of Disney shop; D Street, which sells Vinylmation and Vinylmation themed accessories; Disney Vault 28, which sells kind of offbeat Disney fashion and accessories; Studio Disney 365, where kids can have a rock star make over and Marceline's Confectionary, which sells chocolate dipped Mickey Rice Crispy Treats and pre- packaged Disney themed confectionary as well as all kinds of chocolate covered goodies, truffles and fudge. On the whole, downtown Disney did not inspire me and I am more than just a little concerned that this is the vision they have for Downtown Disney at Walt Disney World.
Once I had spent enough time browsing, I headed over to the Disneyland Hotel. I wanted to check out where Goofy's Kitchen and Steakhouse 55 are, as we had reservations for both at a later stage during the holiday. I also needed to find Trader Sam's Tiki Bar as we would have a pre-cruise meet there the evening before we got on the Wonder. I found them without any trouble. Goofy's Kitchen and Steakhouse 55 are next to each other. Trader Sam's Tiki Bar is in a different area, but was also no problem to find. What defeated me was finding the Disney Vacation Club Preview Centre. The DVC rep at the hotel had invited us to go over there one morning to check out the Aulani models. So I thought I have a look where it is, but could not find it.
Once I had done enough exploring, I headed back to the hotel. I decided to make another attempt to locate the missing package and fortunately, it had now been found and was waiting for me. Graham saw me at reception and came over. Once I had finished, we headed back to the room. We were both hungry and decided to check out the restaurant options at Downtown Disney. We ended up at Naples, an Italian restaurant that was right opposite the hotel. The food there was lovely. We both fancied pasta. Graham went with Garganelle - Quill shaped pasta, chicken, spring peas, cream, Parmesan cream sauce and I had Candele - Baked candlestick pasta, sausage ragù, meatballs, béchamel. We both had ice tea to start off, but then decided to try the Italian Margarita, which included the normal ingredients, but also added a shot of Amaretto. It sounded a strange combination, but it really worked. We even had left some room for dessert. Graham had Cheesecake with poached berries and I had Tiramisu. Once we had finished our dinner, we headed back to the hotel. We were stuffed, tired and happy and headed straight to bed.
I continued to walk around just enjoying the park and came across a photo opportunity with Lightning McQueen and Tow Mater. This was another new thing for me, so I got in line. There were only four or five families in front of me and the line was moving really quickly.
I decided to cut through A Bug's Land on my way to Hollywood Backlot in order to avoid the worst of the construction. I saw Mickey and Pluto near the entrance, but they were unfortunately just finishing up. However, I was told that Chip and Dale were coming out shortly , so I decided to hang around. Unfortunately they did not have a Photopass photographer with them, but their escort took some photos with my camera.
With the photos all out of the way, I headed onwards to Hollywood Backlot. There is a lot of construction going on there, but this area got a new ride since I had last been to Disneyland. I definitely wanted to try this out. It is a dark ride and is called Monsters Inc Mike and Sully To The Rescue. Again, this was a walk on. The ride works on the premise that Boo has somehow gotten into Monstropolis again and Mike and Sully have to find her and take her back home. Again, this is sweet rather than exciting and would not warrant a long wait, but some of it is rather clever.
At this point I had done everything that I had come to do. I decided to ride Soarin one more time on the way out. The posted wait time was 15 minutes, but I still decided to head through the single rider line. This was the one occasion where I don't think that it actually saved me any time, but a 15 minute wait for the ride is pretty amazing. This time I ended up in row two in an end seat.
I headed back to the hotel and had a bit of down time. It was pretty hot and just stretching out in the relatively cool room felt heavenly. I checked my emails and read my book for a bit, before heading out again. The original plan had been to ride the monorail. The monorail links Downtown Disney with Tomorrowland. I did not plan on staying at Disneyland, but just wanted to ride the monorail there and back. Unfortunately the monorail was down so I explored Downtown Disney instead.
Downtown Disney at Disneyland is quite different from Downtown Disney at Walt Disney World. To start of, it is much smaller. It links the main entrance plaza for Disneyland and California Adventure with the Disneyland Hotel. The Grand Californian Hotel also has an entrance from Downtown Disney, which is about half way. There are a number of restaurants and quick service restaurants. Downtown Disney also has a multiplex cinema and the ESPN Zone, which combines a restaurant with arcade games. Most of the shops have nothing to do with Disney. There is Build A Bear, Sephora, various fashion shops, a book shop, a shop selling flip flops, a shop selling sun glasses, a Lego store and Ride Makerz. Unfortunately Basin has closed as have some other of the more quirky shops that used to be there. It does feel a bit like a main stream shopping mall nowadays. They also have an Alamo office, a Travelex office and a Disney Travel Company office at Downtown Disney. There are also a number of kiosks selling anything from puppets, t shirts to pick a pearl. One of the kiosks sells trading pins. Apart from this pin kiosk, the only shops that are at least vaguely Disney are the big World of Disney shop; D Street, which sells Vinylmation and Vinylmation themed accessories; Disney Vault 28, which sells kind of offbeat Disney fashion and accessories; Studio Disney 365, where kids can have a rock star make over and Marceline's Confectionary, which sells chocolate dipped Mickey Rice Crispy Treats and pre- packaged Disney themed confectionary as well as all kinds of chocolate covered goodies, truffles and fudge. On the whole, downtown Disney did not inspire me and I am more than just a little concerned that this is the vision they have for Downtown Disney at Walt Disney World.
Once I had spent enough time browsing, I headed over to the Disneyland Hotel. I wanted to check out where Goofy's Kitchen and Steakhouse 55 are, as we had reservations for both at a later stage during the holiday. I also needed to find Trader Sam's Tiki Bar as we would have a pre-cruise meet there the evening before we got on the Wonder. I found them without any trouble. Goofy's Kitchen and Steakhouse 55 are next to each other. Trader Sam's Tiki Bar is in a different area, but was also no problem to find. What defeated me was finding the Disney Vacation Club Preview Centre. The DVC rep at the hotel had invited us to go over there one morning to check out the Aulani models. So I thought I have a look where it is, but could not find it.
Once I had done enough exploring, I headed back to the hotel. I decided to make another attempt to locate the missing package and fortunately, it had now been found and was waiting for me. Graham saw me at reception and came over. Once I had finished, we headed back to the room. We were both hungry and decided to check out the restaurant options at Downtown Disney. We ended up at Naples, an Italian restaurant that was right opposite the hotel. The food there was lovely. We both fancied pasta. Graham went with Garganelle - Quill shaped pasta, chicken, spring peas, cream, Parmesan cream sauce and I had Candele - Baked candlestick pasta, sausage ragù, meatballs, béchamel. We both had ice tea to start off, but then decided to try the Italian Margarita, which included the normal ingredients, but also added a shot of Amaretto. It sounded a strange combination, but it really worked. We even had left some room for dessert. Graham had Cheesecake with poached berries and I had Tiramisu. Once we had finished our dinner, we headed back to the hotel. We were stuffed, tired and happy and headed straight to bed.
irongirlof12
<font color=blue><marquee>Am I the only one who lo
- Joined
- Nov 3, 2006
Fab tr, love the photos especially your impromtu breakfast with stitch and gang, such a good mix of characters
dolphingirl47
In Search of the Tag Fairy
- Joined
- Dec 25, 2007
Yes, it is a real treasure. I have to admit that we might not have ended up there if we had a bit more energy, but I am so glad we did.
Corinna
Mindyjoy
DIS Veteran
- Joined
- Oct 25, 2010
A lot of people don't like Naples, but we really do. In fact, we are having our rehearsal dinner there!
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