Disneyland Updates

Ok, so I haven't put up anything from Disneyland yet... I know, I know... I'm working on it! Literally...

It took forever to get things back to normal at work, man those guys rely on me ALOT! So because I was working double time at work and a hours each night, I never really got a chance to do anything last week. And this weekend, we cleaned up everything and went through all of our Disney bags.

Most of the bags were from Disneyland, some of that stuff was in the photo in the previous post. Also included were gifts for everyone, sorry, no photos... you will just need to be surprised.

I have downloaded all of our photos, some 1300+ in total. I have also gone through all of them and selected the best one, still a large number of 350, but worth it. I am now going through all of those, organizing them, and getting them ready to post. I plan on doing two different types of posts.... photo posts and review posts (which will include a few photos). I hope to start these soon....

For those of you who are family, I will be bringing all of our photos with me when we come home this coming weekend.

Videos are a different story... The videos are still on the original tapes, I haven't even had time to move them from the tapes to my computer. Let alone the fact that I haven't had time to learn how to create videos/DVDs from them. I also don't even know how well they came out. I may bring the camera and tapes with us, so we can play them back for everyone... who knows.... So the videos may be a bit longer....

Until next time, I will leave you with the following photo. This is us, Kali, and Brittany onboard the Lilly Belle Parlour Car. This was Walt's private railroad car and was (until recently) used only for VIPs (such as Presidents, royalty, executives, etc...).


click for a larger version

Man, A Ton of Stuff

Despite what I will say in the future, we did come back with a ton of stuff from DL!

See, Told Ya So!

Yup, we are at Downtown Disney. We are terrible, aren't we.. ;)

Bruce Minnick Jr

Yes, we are home

After an hour or so delay in Houston and one aborted landing attempt, we are finally home! The cat is loving all over Charlotte and I'm checking the computer. I will doing several posts over the weekend, to chronical everything that we did, our opinions, etc.....

So stay tuned!

We are on the ground!

Bad Weather In Orlando

They are talking about really bad weather in Orlando. They are discussing options right now... So at this time we have no idea when we are going to make it. We will update when we can.

Finally made Houston

Took about 30 mins longer than expected, at least we don't have to change planes. Will update when we get to Orlando.

More VIVA LAS VEGAS!

Ooooo.. Pretty Lights

VIVA LAS VEGAS!

Bye Bye Disneyland

After a wonderful meal last night, we are finally leaving. Already checked out and just waiting for the bus to the airport. BTW our room is the one in the center with the windows open and lights on

I checked the wether this morning, it doesn't look good right now. But hopefully it wil be gone and over by time we come in. I just hope everyone in the path of the storms are safe until they pass.

So, until Las Vegas... Chat with you later!

Last Night

Well, we finalized all of our shopping, packed our bags, and heading out soon for our last dinner. We are having a special dinner at Hook's Point here in the Disneyland Hotel.

I have checked on our flights, looks like everything is still ontime and nothing cancelled yet. I know they are talking about some bad thunderstorms in Orlando late tomorrow night, I will need to check the weather in the morning.

We will be leaving here around 9:20am and head to Las Vegas. From there, we will transfer to our next plane, that will take us into Orlando (after a quick stop in Houston I believe).

As before, I will be posting quick updates to let everyone know that we are doing good. We are expected in Orlando at approx 8:30pm tomorrow night. We probably won't call anyone tomorrow night, since we will have been up since 5-6am your time. I will make a post when we land, have our bags, and are on our way home that night.

We will probably make the calls Saturday, probably from Disney World if I know someone. She is missing her parks really bad, especially Fantasmic since it wasn't playing while we were here. Of course, the Epcot Entrance Loop playing in the World of Disney here didn't help things. You know your a true Disney park fan if you just spent a week at Disneyland and the first thing we want to do is go to Disney World!

Talk to y'all later!

Almost done!

Got in another viewing of the Tiki Room and the 50th Movie. I don't know why so many people hate on that movie, I thought it was good. Just had some Ice Cream on Main Street and getting ready to ride the monorail. That will be our final attraction here...

We have a little more shopping to do, some packing for tomorrow, and dinner at the resort. Disneyland is a nice place to visit, but our home is the WORLD!

Nemo Sub Ride

So the Nemo sub ride was pretty good. Don't know if it something I would wait in line for again (at least not until next visit). Noticed a lot of the animation was the same from the Nemo Seas ride at Epcot.

More on that later.. Time for lunch!

Bruce Minnick Jr

Insane Mornings

So the mornings here are insane! Each morning, it seems that the parks were openned at different times. Some mornings for EMH, when it wasn't advertised. Just really weird...

And of course everyone runs to a specific ride... Nemo Subs. This ride has the worst capacity and people flow issues I have ever seen! The queue is just one continuous switch back and can normally take 2 hours. There is no themeing to the queue, so there is nothing to keep your mind off the wait. If this was RCT the peeps would be royally ticked off....

I really hope this ride is worth wasting our morning. At least it was fun watching people complain about us eating our breaksast in line. HEH :)

One more day!

Well, as we sit down for tonights parade, we realized that we only have one more day. Which is fine, we are ready to come home.

There are some things here that are better than at WDW, but there are other things that are better at WDW than here. And there are some things that would be better with a mixture of both!

Well, we just spent a boatload on gifts for the family. No we aren't going to say what, your just going to have to come down and see us!

I may do another post tonight, but no guarantees :)

Not Fair

So they have the same Siemens games as we have over at Epcot. They even use the same name. And what is worse, no mention of Epcot at all....

So not fair....

Can't we have something to ourselves?

<

Aladdin was awesome!

So Aladdin was awesome... I hope the videos come out good! Heading over to tomorrow land to see what the times are and to get something to eat....

Aladdin Show

Rode Monsters twice, great ride! Sitting and waiting for the Aladdin show. Char is really excited about this one!

Bruce Minnick Jr

Slacking Some More...

Sorry about yesterday, but my phone didn't charge the night before and I ran out od juice. The Indy photo was done about midday, but didn't go out until this morning...

Things are all better this morning and we will be heading to DCA this morning. We have already done a few things in Hollywood, going back to do them a few more times. We walked through the rest of DCA and we were not that impressed.

We spent yesterday redoing Fantasyland and a few other rides (including several rides on Indy). All we really have left is to get some photos from Tomorrowland and Main Street, we probably will reride a few more. Maybe even finally ride the Submarine ride. The park wasn't eve open 15 mins yesterday and the wait was already up to 2 hours.... And no fast pass... INSANE!

Stopping by the Rainforest Café for breakfast... Chat with you later..

For our UAB Friends

Everyone's favorite track... The Indiana Jones Generator!

Toon Town and Fantasyland

So, Toon Town and Fantasyland here beats the Toon Town Fair and Fantasyland that we have at WDW. I loved the Roger Rabbitt ride and the queue for it was amazing! I did take a ride video, but I don't know if it will come out or not.

We are probably going to finish up Fantasyland then head over to frontierland and Adventureland...

Matterhorn, Finally

Well we got screwed out of breakfast. 9am reservations for a place that doesn't open till 10am... They are not that organized around here...

So we finally got to ride the Matterhorne... Fun ride, but dang. It is one ROUGH ride... Char is glad they made coasters smoother....

Heading over to Toon Town, gonna ride Roger Rabbit and get some photos...

Later...

Early Morning Start

Another early start... Breakfast at 9:00, before the parks open at 10:00am!

Now, if they would only let us in for our reservation.

Lack of Updates

Sorry about the lack of updates the last two days, we've been running around crazy. Left very early yesterday (and again this morning) for breakfast. We did get back early last night, but ended up falling asleep. I hope to be able to get some photos and ride videos finally today, I will try to do a few quick updates today and tonight...

Love y'all!

You missed the fun...

We just got off the best way to ride the Disneyland Railroad! We were allowed to ride in the VIP Lilly Bell Car! The same car that was Disney's personal RR car...!

I have some photos on the camera, I will post them later...

Heading to DCA for the Electrical Parade... Later!

For the weird pineapple worshipers

You Dole-Whip freaks...

Ride Update...

Well, we just finished riding Anthony's new favorite ride! Indiana Jones and the Temple of the Forbidden Eye...

Think Posideon's Fury + Dinosaur + Indiana Jones Stunt Show...

He would love it... We did!

Day 2 - We need support today

Please keep us in your prayers today. As we partake the California Adventure, we shall be out numbered. They are holding the National Cheerleader Finals in the park today. We wil be just a few grains of sand on a beach of over done hair, heavy makeup, loud and way to peppy 10-15 year old teenie boppers.....




Help?

For my mother...

Words... Words.... Words... Words...

Heh!

Where Are We Now?

Where Are We Now?

Where are we now?

Quick Note

Just wanted to add one more quick note. I know that last post sounded negative and it was a little. But we are still very positive about our trip and hope that once we are in the parks things will get better!

The purpose of this blog is to keep friends and family in touch with us, but it has another purpose. I wanted an avenue were we can express our views about the differences between DL and WDW.

Neither of us have ever been to DL before, only WDW. We are young, so we don't remember a time "when Disneyland was the real Magic Kingdom" (using a phrase from our last Trivia Chat at UBA). Since we have only experienced WDW and that has only been the last 5-7 years (a few distant memories from earlier), we don't have a lot attachments to WDW 20 years earlier or even DL itself.

So, these will be our thoughts of the parks, attractions, hotels, etc at Disneyland (right now), from a couple who's only Disney experience is modern WDW. I'm sure some of our opinions would probably be considered blasphamous to some of the old schoolers and DL locals. But hey, it's out opinion and our blog.... :)

Enjoy!

First Impressions of Disneyland Resorts!

So far, I only have two words for our experience so far: HOLY CRAP!

Some of that is good, some of that is bad:

HOLY CRAP; I knew the park/hotels were in the middle of the city, but you never realized just how much until you see it yourself. It's like Wet and Wild on I-Drive at home.

HOLY CRAP; Everyone told me the resort hotels here are nothing compared to WDW's resort hotels, boy are they right! Fake 3 inch wide balcony's, paper thin walls, and a terrible shower. The shower head is so low, if your taller than 5'5", you have to be an acrobat to wash your hair (especially if your 5'10" and have long hair).

HOLY CRAP; The room is totally Disney pimped out! Glow in the park pixie dust wall border, SB Castle on the headboards, Sneezy faux-carving above the facial tissue holder. Close enough to the park to be awaken by the fireworks last night!

HOLY CRAP; I think we are going to end up blowing all our money on food. I will never, ever complain about the food prices at WDW again! Since there is no counter type service at the Disneyland Hotel, we had to order room service. BIG MISTAKE! $55 for a bowl of soup and a couple of sandwiches. No wonder they give discounts on everything for the DLR APs.

HOLY CRAP; I can't believe the differences in how DLR and WDW are run, as far as ticktes. If you stay on property at WDW everything is but on your room key, park tickets, room charges, etc.... Here at DLR, you have a room key, you have your park ticket, and you have a little slip of paper with a long number for your room charges. Yet, DLR APs get read cards and discounts, while WDW APs get paper tickets and very few discounts. Why they can't combine the two programs and do the same thing across the board.... WEIRD

We are getting ready to head to the parks for the first time and meet up with some friends. Keep checking back during the day for quick photos through out the day....