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Trip Planning > Walt Disney World > Trip Reports > Jill - March 2005
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Jill - March 2005 Cast of Characters: Jill, 31, intrepid solo explorer who had to use 30 hours of vacation by the end of March or lose it (the vacation time AND my mind)Pre-Trip I love my job so much (not!) that I had 30 hours of vacation left from 2004 that I had to use up by the end of March 2005. Besides working full-time I also am about 1/3 way through my MBA program. Feeling the first signs of burnout combined with vacation time, I decided another solo trip was in order. I just returned from WDW in December so I decided to try somewhere non-Disney related. GASP!!!! I looked at NYC and between the snow and the prices I soon decided to try elsewhere. My attention then turned to Chicago. I love museums and Chicago has a lot of good ones. I went so far as to book my fare on Southwest. I was happily planning away until a co-worker reminded me that Chicago weather sucks in March. L Where to go, where to go? I then had the brainstorm of going to California. There weather there is great, right? I switched my tickets on Southwest to a flight to LAX. (I love Southwest and their change policy!) Then came the monsoons. Wondering if California would still be there I decided to forge ahead. (Besides, Disney wouldn’t let the weather mess up the 50th plans, would they?) After much research on Mousesavers.com, DisBoards, and Mouseplanet.com, I happened upon a great rate for the HoJo in Anaheim and the Southern California City Pass. The City pass includes a 3 Day PHP to DL, 1 day at Knott’s, 1 day at Sea World, and either 1 day at the San Diego Zoo or the Wild Animal Park. I got a great deal through Costco.com for about $156. This messed up my plans again. Back to Southwest and rebooked by flight into San Diego and out of LAX. Found a great rental car rate through Sam’s Club online. I was ready to go. I have classes every Tuesday night with no breaks except Christmas/New Year’s weeks. I did not want to miss any class so I scheduled my trip between classes. I have Mondays and Tuesdays off from work. I ran errands on Monday and Tuesday and then went to class. Got out of class at about 10:30 PM, got home, finished packing, and stayed up until midnight to print out my boarding pass on Southwest.com. Set the alarm for 3:30 AM and tried to get some sleep. Day 1, March 9, 2005 Darn alarm clock went off and I stumbled out of bed to throw myself together. Got out of my garage at 4:00 AM right on schedule and drove off to the airport in driving snow. Drove to the Kansas City airport and dropped off my car at the parking lot. Took the shuttle to the terminal and waited until 5:30 AM when security set up for the day. Well, I should have known. I have flown several times since 9/11 with no major problems. Well, I won the security lottery today. Went through the detector and was met with a security lady with a wand. I was wanded and patted down. Well, the wand kept going off on something in my general bra area. I quietly informed the guard that I had a piercing that was probably setting it off. She was not satisfied by my explanation and I was quickly escorted to a small interrogation room with another female security screener. After they fumble around with the lights for what seems like forever they finally get the “exam.” I know I shouldn’t be irritated and that they were just doing their jobs but was I really going to blow up the plane with an explosive body piercing? It hurt enough getting it let alone attaching a bomb to it!!!!! Sorry, I digress. The lady tells me that I can either show it or take it out and walk back through the metal detector. Well, it ain’t coming out so I show it and they are finally satisfied and I am allowed to go and wait on my flight. Thankfully, the rest of the flying process went smoothly. Flew into Las Vegas and switched planes. I lost $10 in the slot machine so I could say that I gambled in Vegas. BTW, the scenery from Kansas City to Vegas is spectacular. Pikes Peak in Colorado, the Grand Canyon, and Lake Powell/Hoover Dam. Flew to San Diego and quickly got my luggage and headed out to the Thrifty lot to pick up my car. The Thrift people tried to pawn off a gold Taurus on me but I wasn’t having it. Gold and Taurus just don’t fit my swinging single California vibe I was shooting for on this trip. J Tried to talk the nice lady into the Chrysler Crossfire but she wasn’t having it at $138/week. Negotiated a silver Stratus and off I went. I headed out to find the San Diego Zoo. I lucked out and three U-turns later I found myself in the Zoo parking lot at about 11 AM. Gave my pass to the people at the gate and headed in. Oh my goodness, Toto, we aren’t at the Kansas City Zoo anymore. You must go to the San Diego Zoo once in your life. The displays, beauty, kinds of animals are absolutely incredible. By about 3:00 PM, the jetlag/lack of sleep was getting to me. I decided that I would try out a harbor cruise. I got completely lost and ended up in Coronado. Since I was there I drove around the Del Coronado. I really have to stay at the GF someday. Headed back downtown and found the harbor but by this time was having trouble focusing on the road. (Sorry to anyone driving in downtown San Diego on Wednesday afternoon L) Headed up the 5 and tried desperately to find my hotel. After 43 more u-turns found the Travelodge Sea world. Checked in and crashed for a couple of hours. I woke up hungry and slightly more rested. Headed back downtown to the Gas Lamp district and ate dinner at the Hard Rock. Did some shopping and headed back for the hotel. Didn’t get as lost this time. Crashed out at about 7:30 PM. Day 2, March 10, 2005 Woke up at about 6:30 and tried to go back to sleep. I am still on Missouri time apparently. Walked next door to the IHOP and ate some breakfast. I was going to Sea World today and it didn’t open until 10:00 AM. Headed back to the room and packed up and loaded the care. Checked out of the hotel and headed to Sea world without getting lost. Yeah Jill!!! Sea world is great. I had a backstage tour scheduled for 1:00 PM so as soon as the park opened headed over and picked up my badge. Then I was off to the Penguin Encounter. Learned a lot about the penguins. BTW, I love how Sea world handles popular indoor exhibits. They have 2 levels of viewing. The lower level has a moving sidewalk to keep people from bunching up at the glass and hogging the viewing. The upper level is stationary and allowed you to stay as long as you wanted without blocking other people’s views. Wild Artic was a cool motion simulator ride in Antarctica (think Star Tours) and then emptied out to the Beluga whales and polar bears. I was going to ride Journey to Atlantis but decided that I didn’t want to get soaked so I headed over to see the Dolphin Show, which I really enjoyed. I ate lunch at the Shipwreck Café and wandered around until time for my tour. Met up with the tour guide Daniela and headed off backstage to the animal care area. First up, touching the “bachelor” dolphins and then feeding them. Wow, it was worth every penny that I paid for the tour. We moved over to the other dolphin tank and petted and feed the girls as well. We then moved over to the Moray Eel tank and fed them. Gross. Got to see a baby sea turtle that Sea world had by accident. (Sea turtles return to where they are born to lay eggs. Since turtles in captivity can’t go to where they were born they don’t lay eggs. Well, somebody didn’t tell these turtles that. Sea world had 28 turtles hatch about 2 years ago.) Saw some rescued sea lion pups and a group of sea lions that were about to be re-released into the wild that day. Headed over to feed the adult sea turtles. After that we would up touching sharks. Great 2 hours. They gave us reserved seating for the 4:30 PM Shamu show. The show was great and we got to see the 2 ½ month old baby killer whale. Headed out from Sea world and drove up to LA. I was surprised. I made the drive from Sea world to Anaheim in 2 hours. Checked into the HoJo on Harbor and was very impressed. Got some dinner at Mimi’s, checked my email, and headed to bed. Tomorrow, Knott’s Berry Farm. Day 3, March 11, 2005 My body still has not adjusted to CA time so I woke up at 6:30 AM again. Laid around for an hour, got up and dressed and walked over to McDonald’s for breakfast. Came back, watched some TV, got bored and decided to go ahead and drive to Knott’s which opened at 10:00 AM. Got to Knott’s about 8:30 AM. Drove around 3 times until I figured out that they had not opened the parking gates yet. Drove around for the 4th time and stopped at the bakery and bought a chocolate covered strawberry. Sat in the car and ate it and read a book. Finally parked about 9:15 and waited for the gates to open. At 10:00 AM went in and rode all the roller coasters by 12:30 PM. I must say, I was disappointed in Knott’s. It was too much like Worlds of Fun in KC with a little Silver Dollar City mixed in. Makes senses since WOF is owned by the same company as Knott’s. Left and ate lunch at Mrs. Knott’s Chicken Restaurant. Delicious. I have forgiven Knott’s on the basis of that chicken. Decided to leave and headed back to the hotel. Stopped by the Target on Harbor and picked up some snacks and soda. Came back to the hotel room and tried to do some homework. Finally gave up and headed to Downtown Disney to do some shopping. Hit WOD and Basin (gotta love Basin) and then had dinner at RFC. Went back to the hotel and finally got inspired to do some homework (Let me tell you, Activity Based Costing homework takes some inspiration. J ) Set my wake-up call for 6 AM because tomorrow is early entry day at DL!!!!!!!!!!! Day 4, March 12, 2005 I was already awake when the wakeup call came. I quickly got ready and walked the quick 10-minute walk to the entrance plaza. Went through bag check and wandered around trying to find an open ticket window. I was directed to guest services that apparently didn’t open until 8:00 AM. Someone else finally found an open ticket window and I exchanged by SCCP for my 3-day PHP and I headed into the park. I quickly headed back to Fantasyland and rode everything except Storybook ride and IASW, which were not open yet by 8 AM. I also got to preview the new Buzz Lightyear ride—a lot of great improvements over WDW. Guns are not mounted to the car and the targets light up when someone hits them. AWESOME!!! I needed to pick up my Fantasmic tickets so I headed up and ate breakfast at the Carnation Café, which was ok. Back out to guest services and stood and stood and stood in line. The couple behind me was trying to go on a tour and Disney had neglected to tell them that at DL you have to have a physical tour ticket in hand instead of just checking in with ID like in WDW. Good to know as I have the Walk in Walt’s Footsteps scheduled for Monday. Finally got my turn at the window. I whipped out my carefully remembered confirmation numbers for both Fantasmic and the tour. Nope, they wanted the credit card I used to pay!!! ARGH!!! Thankfully I remembered which one (and brought it!!!) and they quickly printed my tickets. Headed back into the park and hit Adventureland. By this time the park was filling up fast. I got a FP for Indy and it was for 1:15!! Rode POC (much better/longer than WDW) and I was starting to get hungry. I had a 1:40 PS for Blue Bayou but got seated at 11:30. Ordered the Monte Cristo. It was interesting and I’m glad I had it once but that is enough…too much breading/grease. Decided to hit the 1:45 Snow White show but got there as they were closing the gates b/c they were full. IASW was packed so I headed back and rode Indy. Great ride…bring it to WDW!!! Rode the new Winnie the Pooh ride and headed over and got a FP for BTTMR. Wandered around a bit and was just amazed at how big the crowds had gotten. I left DL and headed over to CA. Immediately got a 3:15 FP for TOT. Saw the Muppets 3D and then headed over for the 2:00 Aladdin show. OMG!!! Do not miss this show. It is incredible. Used my FP for TOT. I really liked it. Similar but different from WDW. Headed back to the front and got in the single riders line for Soarin’. All I can say if wow! WDW is lucky to be getting it. Wandered around a little more and went into the Bakery tour and Tortilla factory. Decided to head back to DL. Went straight back to the Snow White show and claimed my space. Here I spent the next hour being annoyed by the people/family in line behind me. It was a group that let their kids run in and out of the line wherever they wanted to go and never said anything. It got closer to the beginning of the show and about 15 of their members who had not been in line crowded into and already crowded space and continued to let their kids run into everyone. I was very glad to get seated in the show. The show was great—along the line of B&B at MGM. Grabbed a bite at Plaza Inn (ordered a kid’s pasta meal—just enough food for ½ price of adult’s meal) Wandered over to Tomorrowland and wasted money in the SM arcade until time to head over for Fantasmic. Met at the foot of the stairs at the Gallery. Seated at 10 PM. The desserts for to die for. The cheesecake was wonderful as was the service. I was seated in the first row. After stuffing myself with sugar, the show started. It was incredible. I wish they would bring this one to FL. I loved the whole Peter Pan segment although I missed the characters on the steamboat with SB Willie. After 17 hours in the park I staggered back to the hotel and passed out. Day 5, March 13, 2005 DCA opened at 10 AM so I tried to sleep in and ended up heading out to DCA at about 10. Went straight to TOT and got a FP. Wandered around trying to find something to eat but apparently most of the “lunch” CS places don’t open until after 11. Rode TOT and headed back to the Wharf area and then over to the Pier. Got a FP for CA Screamin’ (Forgot that there was a single rider line L ) Tried to eat at Ariel’s Grotto. It was the most unorganized mess I have ever seen. No CM’s in sight to make heads or tails of the line to get on the list. After about 20 minutes of even trying to get my name on the list I left and went to the Mexican place on the Wharf. Ok nachos. Wandered around the Pier and just really found it to be rather cheesy. Finally rode CA Screamin’. Great ride…steel rollercoaster disguised as a classic wooden coaster. Headed back to the front of the park and rode Soarin’ again via the single rider line. Decided to head back to the hotel for a little while. Did some homework and took a nap. Decided that I had to have some In and Out Burger. Lucky for me there is one is the same location as the Disney outlet store. Hit the outlet store and scored a DL Haunted Mansion play set for my monorail (yes, I am 31 and play with trains) and a couple of shirts and sweatshirts. Got my In and Out (the perfect cheeseburger and fries) and went back the hotel and started packing up. Watched TV for a while and hit the sack. Day 6, March 14, 2005 Last day. L After my outlet trip I needed a way to ship back my purchases. Found a Fedex-Kinkos at the Marriott at the convention center. I finally found it and ran in and waited for the slow and uninformed employees to figure out how to pack and ship a package. I had to be at the front gate of DL at 9 for my tour and it was now 8:45. The Fedex guy finally determined that the system was down. I left my box and headed over to DL in my rental car. The first parking lot was closed so I had to park in the parking garage. Ran to the tram and made it to the tour area about 5 minutes late. There were two couples and myself on the Walk in Walt’s Footsteps tour. The tour was great. It is a lot like Keys to the Kingdom in WDW. Instead of the Utilidors at WDW, we got to go into the lobby of Club 33. WOW. Someday I will be rich and buy a membership just so I can eat there. Really beautiful. Our guide was great and the 4 hour tour ended up being 5 ½ hours with an included lunch at the Saloon during the Bill Hill and the Hillbilly’s show (go….FUNNNY!!!!) Jumped into the Emporium on my way out of the park and picked up matching personalized key chains for my school learning team. Finally, they had my name!!! Reluctantly bid farewell to the Happiest Place on Earth and ran back over to the Marriott. Thankfully the computer was back up and they were able to ship my package. The guy told me that they added on $10 as a handling fee. I commented something to the effect of I should be charging them since it was my second trip and he waived it. Pixie dust? No quite but better than nothing. Headed out and found LAX with not too much trouble. Dropped off the car at Thrifty with no problems and had an uneventful flight home on SW to KC. Drove home, picked up my puppy from Grandma’s, and went to bed. Parting Thoughts The weather was beautiful. I wish that I had spent more time in San Diego. I did not do justice to that beautiful city and all it has to offer. The DL HoJo was a great place for the $$. Request and pay the extra for the theme park view. My room was facing the freeway and there was a lot of noise. Didn’t bother me too much but a light sleeper will suffer. The room had a fridge and a coffee maker. There are other hotels closer to the entrance of DL but I had no trouble walking there everyday. I wish I was going back after May. The 50th is going to be a lot of fun and everything is looking great. SM will be fabulous. I LOVE the original Tiki Bird Show!!!!!! Florida needs to get rid of Iago and Zazu and go back to the original. DCA was a disappointment. I could enjoy being at just DL but the addition of DCA made me miss Florida a lot. Well, only 198 days until my October birthday trip to WDW and the Food and Wine Fest. 
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