Our Disneyland & GCV TR:or walking in circles for 8 days with AussieKaren.

[JessNewbs]

Loving the TR, especially all of those wonderful photos

 

[Aussie Wendy]

Reading right along -used to love Silly Swings-last ride and I felt really sick-damn this getting old!! Weather looks a bit cold.

 

[zanzibar138]

Love it!

I can't believe you slept so long!

I was surprised that I actually enjoyed Mickey's Wheel of Death (as I am not usually a fan of ferris wheels), however we did not choose to take a death-slider, just a normal carriage

 

[sweetlovin']

This is a great report. I love staying at GVC because it is so convenient to the parks and Hagen Daaz is right across the walkway. Love that you were able to do the roller coaster and Storytellers Cafe. I have not gotten to that restaurant yet, because the ice cream is right across the street.

 

[Marlea98]

I'll do the Wheel of Doom again but never on a sliding one. And I don't care if I have to go by myself or with strangers.

 

[gogo65]

I'm enjoying this trip report too

 

[australiankaren]

so after a minor flood event this weekend my TR had to take a back seat....but lets continue shall we....

now.....where was I??? Ah, thats right...our first day at CA....and what do we stumble over...the parade...seriously folks we wouldn't have known it was on as there was NO_ONE lined up for 3 hrs before hand..it was all very..."oh look, that's a float...shall we stand here..oh yes, lets!"....

so here's some shots of the pixar parade..i really enjoyed it, they have heaps of acrobats and its quite cute....

now they may be a tad fuzzy as the light wasn't too good.....but you get the main gist..

 

[australiankaren]

after much help from those in the know here on dis, i booked the dinner package for world of color......fantastic idea.....ok the food was semi crap, the service terrible, but the location for the show was brill.......

and I got ears (which are now sitting on my desk at work, and when the mood strikes, i turn off the lights and have a little light dance party...but thats another story)......so heres the pics...

happy me with my purchase...

the DH sporting the ears....

a disappointing salad....with cold and tasteless bread that took 25 mins to arrive..I kid you not..the service was appalling, thus the $2 tip..

fantastic baramundi...

the dessert sellection, DH said it was nice

my dairy free sorbet and fruit....nice but the weather was too cold to really enjoy it...

after colors...but you can see where we were located (with random guy in foreground)....great spot and the show was fantatic...dumbo was so sad

after show...

DH with the mickey wheel of fear and doom....

so.....after a great show what do you do...thats right...go to the GCH bar! The bar was to become our nightly location for a nice port and maybe some sliders if the mood hit...

but tonight we tried the local drop....not as nice as aussie/NZ wine, so we then just stuck to the gordons 40 yr old port.....

Cheers big ears! Sitting by the fire in the nook....fantastic day....phew..and thats only day 1

 

[australiankaren]

so today was the first time we have set foot in Disneyland Park for nearly 30 years...coffee first...so we nick into CA for a decent coffee (this is also where we see parents pushing prams with huge cups of beer at 10 am....strange..but I guess that's what some people may need to get them thru the day with toddlers at DL)

my oh my how things have changed.....since we have so far only used the GCH entrance to CA we hadnt gone thru the bag check and ticket gate at the end of DTD to DL.....the bag check has totally ruined the look of what they were trying to accomplish...who plops tents down and thinks they are a good idea..its the first glimpse a visitor gets of DL.....seriously????

Any way we get to the gates and what do we find...yup..main st station is under canvas....okay.....

starting to think this is the poorer cousin of WDW....then we turn the corner...

now no-one mentioned all the transport options.....we must have hung around the square for at least 15 mins oooohing and ahhing....this is NOT WDW....but I have to admit..the castle just wasn't impressive..or so I thought....but that was to change....

 

[australiankaren]

So in the words of some guy "not all space mountains are created equally" and being an EXPERT on space mountain in WDW, knowing every turn, every dip, every rattle and every spot to lose ones lunch, ones keys and ones mind....I think I may know what I'm on about....

space mountain at DL Rocks! But not in the way you think....I hate the line configuration...what the hell re the weaving on the roof?? Wheres my star tunnel music, my dim lighting, my ambiance...now WDW beats DL hands down when it comes to the line....and the exit is where??? Oh over by god knows where...but I digress.....the thing that made my day is the 2 seaters....this is a ride I want to enjoy with DH, as he doesn't do coasters..SM is his limit...so this was fantastic.....

the ride itself was too smooth, i love the jerky, rattle and hum of WDW SM....and it seemed a tad slower ...but overall a great ride, but my heart still belongs to WDW SM.....

 

[australiankaren]

the little roller coaster (cant remember the name)...stumbled over it whilst checking toontown out..the line was non existent so we went.."why not"....i think this has made it on our top 10 ride list.......fan- tastic.....no pics but the kink in my neck will be a memory I will long remember....

but heres a photo of the kiddie hot dog we got at the place next door (ok its half a hot dog, but you get the idea)

 

[australiankaren]

as i look back over my photos I realise we spent a hell of a lot of time in CA..not because it was close but because it was FAN_TASTIC....

so heres a few shots of my fav ride.....

getting the aussiekaren thumbs up of approval..

now getting fast passes for radiator springs is just plain nuts...we get there for EMH and they dont open the fast pass til 10 anyway...so people are lining up from 9.....we line up 9.45..this is the line

now heres the line at 9.50 am

and here is part of the crowd waiting to join the line at 10am

I dont have a photo of the crowd behind the rope, but its huge...and this was a quiet day..all fast passes are gone by 11 to 11.30am....

so as DH waits in line..I go off to make new friends..

so if you want to ride radiator springs be prepared to either
1.get in line before 10 am for a fastpass
or
2.ride it as soon as it opens at 9 am on emh mornings.....

oh and the fast pass line isnt outside the ride itself, its at the enterance of its a bug life.....i didnt know that and raced to the ride to get the fast passes...a mistake i didnt make again!

 

[australiankaren]

we enjoyed looking thru the land, and did come back later in the trip and rode all the rides so will have pics later on of those...but heres a few shots of bugs land in all its glory before the little people get there

 

[Marlea98]

Thanks for the tip about getting to Carsland mega early!

Love Bugs Life area. Love the attention to detail, did you go to the show? I loved the bug 3d glasses but I can't do 3d.

How much was the WOC dinner? How far in advance did you have to book? We loved WOC but don't want to have to wait in our area for such a long time again to get a good spot. The pusher-in-er-ers were such a pain in the butt.

 

[australiankaren]

Thanks for the tip about getting to Carsland mega early!

Love Bugs Life area. Love the attention to detail, did you go to the show? I loved the bug 3d glasses but I can't do 3d.

How much was the WOC dinner? How far in advance did you have to book? We loved WOC but don't want to have to wait in our area for such a long time again to get a good spot. The pusher-in-er-ers were such a pain in the butt.

we did see its tough to be a bug...thought it was a tad scarier than at AK in orlando....dinner was at the winery, i booked about 1 week or 2 before hand...you just email dining and they do it for you..we got the 7.10 resi for the 9 pm show........

 

[australiankaren]

dine@disneyland.com is the email address to get dining resis....just email with date time # of people and place..they are really good and quick

 

[australiankaren]

so, taking a big breath I am now ready after much counselling and medication to talk about that subject we don't talk about..the proverbial elephant in the room, the thing that is just whispered about in dark rooms and back alleys....MICKEYS WHEEL OF DOOM!!!

OMG Mouse, what the hell were you thinking ...you sadistic crazy rodent you! It looks so tame, so kiddy, so FUN!!! You have to be bl^^dy kidding me...I have NEVER EVER EVER been as terrified as I was on this "ride"....and I have children, and grandchildren so I know Terror!

so we toddle up, like lambs to the slaughter, I HATE Ferris wheels, but its Disney, what can go wrong...DH says "lets just do the stationary carriage" I go "come on, lets do the moving one, how bad can it be".......OH SWEET JESUS!!!!!
Dang you Mickey and your aura of calm and safety......we could DIE on this thing....

here is the DH ( and this is a tame photo)......after the first swinging begins...

this is now him when he thinks it is all over......silly silly man

so lets just say as my loud aussie voice rings thru the park "let me off..NOW!!!"...we only did one rotation...and I had to go and ride screaming twice to get my mo-jo back........

Me so so happy to be on dry land ..we should have twiged when we saw the sick bags in the carriage.....idiots!

the WHEEL OF DOOM AND DEATH

after riding screaming twice...nearly back to my usual self...nearly!

so to sum up...I HATE YOU MOUSE AND EVERYTHING YOU STAND FOR.....ok, maybe thats a bit harsh, but really???? really????? that ride???? really?????

 

[australiankaren]

we stumbled across this eary in the trip, and it became our daily favourite, regardless of what park we went to, we always came back here on our way to the hotel......the DH LOVED it, and he doesnt enjoy coasters so another win for the mouse .....

now this is the guy who would ride, then race back around the line for another go like a sugared up 8 yr old boy .....see, disney does make you a kid again

such a fun ride...when your not thinking you are going to plunge to your death....

 

[hjd0411]

Great report and pictures aussiekaren!! Loving hearing of your adventures! And I'm definitely looking forward to more!! Oh and thanks for the tip on good coffee - always hard to find in the US!!!

 

[australiankaren]

if you have the time, just slow down and have a look at the amazing detailing.....if only they thought thru the wheel of death...but back to paradise pier...fantastic..here are a few shots of what we saw