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Well.....we got back from DL last night and one word can sum up the trip....RAIN!! Who says it never rains in California???
WHO: Me, DH, DD(3), Leilani (friend from NJ), Carolyn (friend from AZ)
WHEN: Thursday Night-Sunday Morning
NOTE: DH and I are PAP holders...got one for DD this trip as she is now 3! Our NJ friend flew in just to go to DL with us!
BEST PURCHASE: Park Music....California Adventure and Holiday Magic! Also- the Belle's Enchanted Christmas CD for only $5.98...it has all
the songs from the movie as well as traditional Christmas songs sung by "Belle" (Paige O'Hara)....a great bargain in my opinion.
We left Phoenix at 7PM Thursday night, arrived in Anaheim around 1AM. We stayed at the Best Western Park Place Inn which is THE CLOSEST
hotel to the park(s) entrance. It was great, and we were given 3rd floor park view rooms (could it be because DH works at Best Western's
International Headquarters??) NOTE: This hotel was closer to the park(s) MAIN entrances than even the DL resort hotels- and I've stayed at
all 3 of them! We were able to watch fireworks from the room as well as see the Materhorn, Space Mountain, the Main Street Christmas tree,
as well as the Golden Gate bridge and Tower of Terror construction! The best part of this location was that the monorail track was just
in front of out window, across the street! Nothing like seeing the monorail whiz by:)
We were up and into DL by 8:30 am......AND met with rain that DID NOT STOP until Sunday morning. This DID NOT slow us down, but a few
things were closed (teacups, Tarzan's Treehouse, Columbia....) The BEST part was that we just about walked on EVERYTHING. We kept our
sense of humor and saw the "advantage" of the rain. We were all decked in ponchos and had a grand time!
The ONLY wait we had, and it was 35 minutes (we believed the "Standby Time" of 15 minutes sign) was for Small World. They were slow because
it is an outside load/unload. The other piece was that it had reopened that day with the holiday decorations. For those of you who
have seen it, it was BETTER than last year. For those of you that haven't, its worth the holiday trip to DL!! I ended up buying the CD
with the music on it.....they sing "Small World", "Jingle Bells", and "Deck the Halls" together. Wonderful. It's a 15 minute ride (we
timed it twice) and well worth the wait, even in the rain.
The other special holiday attraction was the Haunted Mansion Nightmare Before Christmas ride. Again, better than last year, if
possible! Worth a trip to DL just to see it, and I'm not even a fan of the movie!
Unfortunately, due to the rain, it did not "snow" during Friday night's fireworks and fireworks were cancelled on Saturday. No
parades BUT DL did have a "Rainy Day Character Caravan" instead...good idea!
We ate Friday lunch at Avalon Cove and saw Ariel, Chip, Dale, Goofy, Pluto, and Minnie....had Saturday lunch at Blue Bayou (get that PS or
you'll never get in!), and Sunday breakfast at Storytellers (Grand Californian) with Chip, Dale, and Pluto. It was all wonderful.
We left for home Sunday morning.....of course BEAUTIFUL clear skies, but DROVES of people going into the parks.....I'm glad we had the
rain and the parks to ourselves.
Here are the REAL HIGHLIGHTS of our trip:
1. On the way to DL, we stopped in a little town on the AZ/CA border called Quartsize to gas up and get a burger. Who was gasing up next
to us? Brett Butler of "Grace Under Fire" fame! As I walked with DD into the Burger King, Ms. Butler stopped me and asked if DD was 3
(yes she is) and told me how cute she is! It was nice, especially since I didn't even see that it was her until she stopped us....it
was completely unsolicited on my part! Cool, huh?
2. This is THE BEST PART OF OUR TRIP: WE WERE ABLE TO GET INTO SLEEPING BEAUTY'S CASTLE AND LOOK AROUND!!!!!! We have been very
disappointed that the interior of the castle had been closed for a year now and were THRILLED when we saw the door open on Friday
morning. We wandered in and took in the dioramas with glee!! As we got to the end, we noticed that there was "stuff" in the hallways and
that the exit door was locked! Doing the math, we figured that we were not suppose to be in there! As we retraced our steps we met with
a CM that said that it indeed was closed, but was not upset that we wandered in (the door had been opened by another CM for a meeting and
not closed). We asked about the future of the attraction and were told that it was not to be reopened in light of 9/11 and the fact
that the castle was a "cultural icon" and potential for terrorism. If you've been in the castle, you can understand this as it is dark and
quiet inside. I have mixed feelings, as Sleeping Beauty is my favorite, but respect the decision and recognize it's merit. Anyway,
this was a treat and hands down the highlight of our trip.
We hope to go back to DL in December to take in the holiday events that we missed due to the rain. Glad be bought a van in July. We
thought it would be great to take to DL and were right!
Jane in AZ
WDW in 13 months...I can't count the days....too depressing. DL (HOPEFULLY) in 1 month
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