"Does this ride have drops?" March 2015 TR *NEW* 1/17 COMPLETE - Final Thoughts

[wiscbugs]

Great start...the lego store used to be one of my son's favorites as well..but now that he is 10, he just likes the super-expensive sets so we can't carry those around with us!

 

[momtohms]

Joining along! Great pics from your first day, those car races at the Lego Store look like so much fun!

 

[MEK]

Wow - it's been so long since I've been on the DIS that I had to log in.

Love your introduction. And Yay for a non-stop flight 5 minutes from home! NICE!

I am very excited to read about DL. I really need to take notes because we are finally zeroing in on a California trip which is going to include DL! Yay!

 

[Meemoo]

Looking forward to tuning in to the rest of your adventures

 

[mandas08]

I'm here to follow along! Doubt you even remember me...haha. I had baby boy #2 in February and pretty much fell off the map. Now its time to catch up! We also have trips planned for October and February as well..yay!

 

[Imagineer5]

Sounds like a nice travel day, though the long time between breakfast and lunch would have made me quite grumpy!! Esp being pregnant haha. Good you didn't push the first day too much and were able to let Paxton play - the lego store is so great for that! I like their downtown Disney area. DH is a sucker for little Caesar's too. We have one around the corner from our house and he loves their deep dish pepperoni, but I don't like deep dish anything nor pepperoni so I always get a plain old cheese and then complain about it. So I try to stay away from there! LOL.

 

[missangelalexis]

I am definitely in!

I'm glad travel day went smooth! Ugh I can imagine how miserable it was going so long without food though!

Love the pics of DS playing with the legos, so cute! And I don't blame you guys for crashing early.

 

[khertz]

I love the Lego store! Legos capture everyone's imagination and that's fun. I look forward to more!

The Lego store is definitely the most fun part of DTD, especially for DS! It was a great way to start off the trip for him.

Oh my gosh, this is already making me so happy. I just got back from my first trip to Disneyland a few weeks ago and I'm missing it like crazy! I passed that Lego store approximately 23,000 times throughout the week and ahhh. Never thought a few pics of Legos could make me so happy.

Anyways... so glad to hear it was such a successful travel day! Between the end of your ABD trip and the beginning of your DL trip, it seems like poor y'all always end up starving on planes!

I totally know what you mean. I was missing Disneyland the minute we started driving to the airport! I think it's because we pretty much always have the next WDW trip lined up when we leave, but DL is a whole different ballgame and we don't know when we will be back.

I KNOW!! The ABD trip was kind of unavoidable, but DL was totally poor planning on my part. I should have packed some sandwiches or something because I knew our layover was pretty short. I think snacks probably would have been fine for me were it not for being pregnant. DH and DS seemed fine with it. Oh well, next time I will know better!

I'm glad your travel day was as stress free as possible! I'm sorry about the lack of food though - that is rough especially when you're pregnant!

It looks like DS had fun at the Lego store! All of the boys could spend hours in there!

It was tough, and I definitely thing the pregnancy made it tougher on me. The guys seemed totally unaffected. But I should have thought ahead to bring some sandwiches or something! Hindsight is 20/20 I guess!

The Lego store definitely has a way of sucking in kids! I think DS could have stayed there all night if we let him. He was already so excited about that, and it was only just the beginning!

Those Lego car racing stands pretty much suck in every kid that passes by. It's one of those things that makes you think "Why exactly do I spend $1000s of dollars for this vacation?" You can just go to the Lego store for hours!

How long is the flight from Houston to LAX? I picture about 3 hours. Sounds like you didn't pack enough snacks! We usually have to fly through Chicago, which is about 4.5 hours from Chicago. (The whole trip from BUF to LAX is about 8-10 hours depending on layover.) It's actually kind of neat that we are going to fly in Phoenix instead next year, because then we have a direct flight. It's 5 hours out (4 hours back), but that still beats 8-10. The direct flight also limits the affect of winter weather to one city.

Yep, kids of all ages, including DH! He had a blast helping DS build his car. If we had a Lego store locally, we could save THOUSANDS on vacations!!!! lol

It was about 3 hours, yes. I totally screwed up not thinking to bring a sandwich or something, at least for myself considering I have pretty much been eating constantly since I got pregnant. lol DH and DS were handling it just fine. I will definitely know better!!

Oh yeah, 8-10 hours is ROUGH! I'm glad it will be better for you next year. 4-5 hours is a lot more manageable!

Great start...the lego store used to be one of my son's favorites as well..but now that he is 10, he just likes the super-expensive sets so we can't carry those around with us!

Thanks! I was AMAZED at how expensive some of those sets were, and how many pieces!! I can see DS getting older and wanting more sets like that. He loves the little Junior sets right now.

Joining along! Great pics from your first day, those car races at the Lego Store look like so much fun!

Welcome!! DS absolutely had a blast with the car races. I'm still kind of amazed we were ever able to get him away from them. lol

 

[khertz]

Wow - it's been so long since I've been on the DIS that I had to log in.

Love your introduction. And Yay for a non-stop flight 5 minutes from home! NICE!

I am very excited to read about DL. I really need to take notes because we are finally zeroing in on a California trip which is going to include DL! Yay!

So happy you made your way here!

It is kind of annoying that they don't fly direct to more cities, but I gotta admit, it was REALLY nice leaving and arriving so close to home! And with such a small airport, checking in and getting through security was a breeze.

Would that be your first DL trip? It's so amazing there, I'm sure you will love it!!!!

Looking forward to tuning in to the rest of your adventures

Yay! Welcome along!!

I'm here to follow along! Doubt you even remember me...haha. I had baby boy #2 in February and pretty much fell off the map. Now its time to catch up! We also have trips planned for October and February as well..yay!

Of course I remember you! Congrats on baby #2!!! How exciting!

What are your dates for October & February? We are doing Oct 17-25 and Feb 6-14. I can't wait! We haven't been since May of last year, so I'm super excited about finally getting back! I am still toying with the idea of doing a double PTR for both trips, but I worry about balancing that with a TR now that my DIS time is harder to come by.

Sounds like a nice travel day, though the long time between breakfast and lunch would have made me quite grumpy!! Esp being pregnant haha. Good you didn't push the first day too much and were able to let Paxton play - the lego store is so great for that! I like their downtown Disney area. DH is a sucker for little Caesar's too. We have one around the corner from our house and he loves their deep dish pepperoni, but I don't like deep dish anything nor pepperoni so I always get a plain old cheese and then complain about it. So I try to stay away from there! LOL.

I was totally a grump by the end of the flight. lol And not finding something close to the airport before getting on the road to Anaheim didn't make it much better! I totally should have thought ahead on that one. At first, we had toyed with the idea of getting DL AP's and going into a park on arrival day, but I'm glad we didn't. That definitely would have been pushing it too much and DS needed that time to unwind with some Lego car races.

I think Little Caesar's is just okay. DH is obsessed with the idea of his favorite food for $5. lol We had one pretty close to our house for a long time, and one day we went to go pick up some pizzas and it had become a donut shop! I think DH was a little devastated!!

I am definitely in!

I'm glad travel day went smooth! Ugh I can imagine how miserable it was going so long without food though!

Love the pics of DS playing with the legos, so cute! And I don't blame you guys for crashing early.

So glad to see you, Alexis!

The lack of food was sucky, but overall it was a pretty good travel day, all things considered. So I guess I shouldn't complain too much!

 

[amazingact21]

I'm here, Kristy! I'll be back later to read the most recent update, just wanted to pop in and say that I'm so excited to hear all about your DL adventure. I still crack up over your Facebook post about Paxton's comment regarding your favorite attraction at DL. Probably one of the best Disney stories I've heard in awhile.

 

[Dugette]

The plane was tiny, with the seat configuration being one seat on one side and two seats across the aisle.

Ugh, those tiny planes always make me nervous.

This was our long leg of the flight, and luckily it was a lot more comfortable! Large seats, and free in-flight entertainment of movies and tv shows.

That's more like it!

That made him crack up as he said, “Seriously? You couldn’t give me the directions 10 seconds ago, but now you know where the Jack-In-The-Box is?”

Well, you've got your priorities. Glad you got some food!

Looks like a fun time at Downtown Disney, especially the Lego car races!

We were all so exhausted that all three of us went to bed for 8:30 that night!

Considering you changed time zones, that's pretty reasonable, I'd say.

Looking forward to more!

 

[khertz]

I'm here, Kristy! I'll be back later to read the most recent update, just wanted to pop in and say that I'm so excited to hear all about your DL adventure. I still crack up over your Facebook post about Paxton's comment regarding your favorite attraction at DL. Probably one of the best Disney stories I've heard in awhile.

Great to see you here, Alicia! Ahhhh, I almost forgot about that! Dang, that would have made a good title. He has the right idea. Especially on this trip, all things considered! lol

Ugh, those tiny planes always make me nervous.


That's more like it!


Well, you've got your priorities. Glad you got some food!

Looks like a fun time at Downtown Disney, especially the Lego car races!


Considering you changed time zones, that's pretty reasonable, I'd say.

Looking forward to more!

I hate the tiny planes too. I was glad that was just for the very short first leg! The accommodations on the longer leg were so much better. We had plenty of space to spread out and keep us all entertained for the whole flight.

Food was absolutely priority number 1! Food landmarks generally tend to orient me to my surroundings in normal circumstances. lol

The Lego races were totally fun for DS and we had so much fun watching him. It was a great way for him to unwind after a long day of traveling.

I guess putting it in perspective, it was 10:30 pm at home, so totally reasonable to hit the sack that early!

 

[khertz]

Day 2: Sunday March 1st

Sunday morning, we were up a little after 6 am. I guess going to bed so early the night before will do that to you! But it was all good, because Disneyland opened at 8 am so we wanted a nice head start on the day anyway. We had some breakfast, got dressed, and were ready to leave by 7 am. Last trip, we drove to the Mickey & Friends parking garage every day and took the tram, but this trip, DH realized the Toy Story parking lot was actually closer. Plus, we figured it would make DS happy because he loves all forms of Disney transportation, especially Disney buses!

Once we got to the parking lot, we were the second car inside and got right on a waiting bus to head to the parks. DS was ecstatic!

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We were through bag check by 7:15, and the first thing DS spotted were these awesome Mickey head benches he wanted to take a picture with.

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Once we got him away from those, we made our way over to the DL gates and found a turnstile where we would be first to wait. The gates were actually still closed, so we were waiting outside of them.

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Once they opened the gates, they started scanning the tickets of the first few people in line so that we could all just go in once the park opened. The CM’s each had a little iPhone to take our picture to attach to our ticket since it was the first time we were using them and since they don’t do the fingerprint scan there. Also, once we could move up a little, DH was able to zoom in and get this beautiful sight!

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It was a little before 8 am when they started letting us in, so we were held at the ropes leading into each land. We went up to the rope in front of the Partners Statue first so DH could get some unobstructed photos of Sleeping Beauty Castle. Tease it all you want for being smaller than Cinderella Castle, but I love it! It’s so cute and charming.

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We didn’t end up staying there, though. We wanted to head to Fantasyland first and thought it might be easier to go around than straight through with everyone stopping for pictures and the walkway being a little narrower around the statue. So we went over to the rope blocking the way to Tomorrowland to wait there. The CM manning the rope took notice of DH's Carousel of Progress t-shirt and they chatted about that for a few minutes. I also overheard him telling another family it was a good idea to go to Peter Pan’s Flight first before the line gets too long. I thought that was supposed to be one of the attractions down for our visit for refurbishment, so I asked him about it. He consulted a piece of paper from his back pocket and confirmed that yes, it was closed so disregard his advice. You’d think they would be familiar with that before doling out advice to park guests!

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A look at the Partners Statue from where we were waiting
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Finally at 8, we heard the morning announcement, and the ropes came down. We made our way through the Castle to Fantasyland first!

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Since it was our first of 5 days and we felt confident we would be able to accomplish everything, we decided to let DS be our guide that day and do things at his pace. I will just let you know now, this was a TERRIBLE idea! Not a bad idea on the last day, maybe, but on the first day it gave him a sense that for the entire vacation we would only do what he wanted to when he wanted to do it. This led to a battle of wills more than once, and we learned not to give him that kind of power on the first day ever again! But for now, we were going with that plan, and as soon as he saw the Casey Jr. train, he wanted to ride that.

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Arendelle! I think we got a better picture of it later on in the trip


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After the train, we went over to Mr. Toad’s Wild Ride and got right on with no wait.

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I tried to get DS to pose with Mr. Toad with me, but he refused, so it was just me.

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After a wild ride with Mr. Toad, we stopped by the Carousel for a spin.

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While we were going around on the Carousel, we spotted Peter Pan & Captain Hook meeting off to the side of it, and Alice & the Mad Hatter meeting out in front of Mr. Toad. We asked DS several times if he wanted to go meet anyone, and he was adamant that he didn’t. We even tried taking him over to Alice once our ride was over, and he flat out refused. I immediately knew this trip was not going to be our usual kind when it came to characters. Since his first trip, DS has LOVED meeting characters, both fur and face. This time around, that was pretty much the opposite, which was a real disappointment for me. We have so many great memories of him meeting with characters on previous trips. I hope he is over that by the time we go back to WDW in a few months!

Instead, he had spotted another of his favorite things to do in the Magic Kingdom…trying to pull the sword from the stone.

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We knew he would enjoy Autopia, so we decided to go over there next to ride before the lines got too long. This was one I couldn’t ride with them, so I waited on the platform while DH and DS went.

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DS trying to wave to me but the sun was right in his eyes!


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We pulled a FP for later using only 2 of our tickets, so DH wanted to use the third ticket to go get himself a FP for Space Mountain. While he did that, I took DS over to run around in an open area. He came upon that huge ball that sits on water and makes it easy to spin even though it weighs a lot (I’m sure there is a name for this, I just have no idea what it is) and spent quite awhile playing with that while we waited for DH.

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DH heading to Space Mountain


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Once DH was done and came back, we were ready to go explore another part of the park. Where to next?

UP NEXT: Ready for Adventure

 

[kaoden39]

Isn't it funny how kids will do things one time but not the next? Such fun little individuals! I agree the CM should be more familiar before giving advice about rides or such. You would think that they would know? I'm really enjoying your trip report and it's getting me really excited for our trip.

 

[Dugette]

Gorgeous photos!!!

I thought that was supposed to be one of the attractions down for our visit for refurbishment, so I asked him about it. He consulted a piece of paper from his back pocket and confirmed that yes, it was closed so disregard his advice. You’d think they would be familiar with that before doling out advice to park guests!

Yikes, glad you were there to set him straight before he told even more guests.

I will just let you know now, this was a TERRIBLE idea!

Duly noted.

I immediately knew this trip was not going to be our usual kind when it came to characters. Since his first trip, DS has LOVED meeting characters, both fur and face. This time around, that was pretty much the opposite, which was a real disappointment for me. We have so many great memories of him meeting with characters on previous trips. I hope he is over that by the time we go back to WDW in a few months!

Aw, what a bummer! I hope he comes around by next trip. Izzy loved the characters her first trip, was pretty character-shy/scared the second trip, then loved them again for the rest - so hopefully it was just an off trip like that for him.

Can't wait to hear more about Disneyland!

 

[leshunlenese]

I am a little late to the party but I am here. I hope to get to Disneyland one day but every time I look into it those flight prices just get in the way! Those legos! I have lots of those around know a days. Someone really wants to go back to legoland too! Oh my goodness I have to agree with your DH on those hot and ready five dollar pizzas. Devyn and I just had one yesterday!

Love those AM pictures as I do all your DH pictures. While I have never seen the castle in person. It is just as beautiful as Cinderella's!
That cast-member had good intentions I suppose but yeah!

OH the Casey Jr train is adorable Devyn would love that. Did you know the train will be down for refurbishment at MK while we are there. I am so bummed and I know the little one will be!

I cannot get over how much our boys have alike. Last September it was not easy getting Devyn to meet the characters. Usually he is all for it but he had specific ones he wanted to meet. Maybe it is just a phase!

 

[Imagineer5]

Oh no - bummer on the characters! I am surprised at his age that he was like that (I don't know if I've heard of kids growing OUT of the characters, at least not until later when they are "too cool" for them). Still sounds like a nice morning though and you visited quite a few attractions quickly - I love how you had to tell the CM about Peter Pan - ugh! Too bad he wasn't right and it was actually open!

 

[skier_pete]

Tough on the characters. Our DD went through a similar phase. She will never tell her what causes her to be afraid of things, but from what I could figure they were intimidating to her in that she didn't know how to or got nervous to talk to them. Hopefully your DS will come around again. Now our DD is mostly "No thanks" with the characters because, well, she's 12, but she still wants to meet Mickey!!

I would NEVER let my kid have more than a limited say in ride order. Now she is old enough to understand why we do things in the order we do them, but even when she was younger we would usually say we will come back to that. For instance I asked her what she wants to do first thing at the MK, she said the Tiki Birds. A girl after my own heart, I explained that we have to do the rides with long lines first, then the easy things to get into. She was cool with it once I explained. (The benefits of tweens - and there aren't many of them.)

 

[missangelalexis]

Going to bed early the night before seemed to pay off! Love all the early morning photos. Ah I'm sorry about the characters But sounds like you had a fun morning so far!

 

[wiscbugs]

Looks like a good start to the morning. You went with the cage car for Casey's ride...I felt clausterphobic in that car but my son liked it too.