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Tina Allman -- November 2000 -- DisneylandNovember 10-13, 2000 People in travel party:
Reason for the trip: This short trip to Disneyland was taken to celebrate our 2nd anniversary, which was November 7th. My favorite place in the world is Disneyland so my hubby decided that that's where we would spend our anniversary. I'm such a lucky girl! Hotel: The Fairfield Inn was very nice. It is right across the street from the entrance to Disneyland. The front desk people were all very friendly. We got checked in right away and got a wonderful room with a view of the Matterhorn without even asking! We only paid $69 a night, which I thought was a great price. There is a restaurant, Millie's, and a McDonalds right on the property and both provide room service. Day 1 - Travel Day We left Antioch at about 10:30am. We stopped once for gas. We stopped to eat right near Magic Mountain at about 3:30. I highly recommend Hamburger Hamlet. We had a delicious meal and the price was pretty reasonable. We left Santa Clarita at about 4:30 and ended up smack in the middle on Los Angeles traffic. What should normally take about an hour (Santa Clarita to Anaheim) took us 3! Needless to say when we finally arrived we were exhausted. Check in at the hotel took less than 5 minutes. We went to our room and had a beautiful view of the Matterhorn! I knew that the fireworks would be taking place at about nine so I unpacked and waited. When nothing happened at 9, we went to bed. About 15 minutes later we heard explosions and I raced out the door. It was beautiful. We had a perfect view of the fireworks. We couldn't hear the music, but just seeing the fireworks was enough for me. Day 2 - Disneyland We got up at 5am to get ready. The park opened at 8 and we had early entry, which meant we could go in at 6:30. At 6 we left our room and headed to the entrance. The walk from the hotel to the front gate was only about 10 minutes. There weren't very many people in line. We waited until 6:30 and then got right in. We had hoped that Indiana Jones would be part of the early morning, but it wasn't. Tomorrowland and Fantasyland were the only sections open. We headed to Space Mountain and got on in less than 5 minutes. Next we went on Star Tours and then the Matterhorn. After that we went on the Teacups and headed over to the Adventureland gate to get on Indiana Jones right at 8. We waited there for about 15 minutes and then made our way to the ride. We got on right away. After that I went to the Blue Bayou to make lunch reservations and then we headed to the Riverbelle Terrace for breakfast. We each had the egg, potato, bacon special, we ordered one side of pancakes (which are very, very good), one coffee and one milk and the bill was about $30. Very pricey, but the pancakes alone are worth every penny! After breakfast we went on Pirates, the Haunted Mansion, and Splash Mountain. We shopped for a bit in New Orleans Square and then made our way through the castle. We checked out a few more shops in Fantasyland and Tomorrowland. Our lunch reservation was for 11:30 so at 11:15 we headed over to the Blue Bayou. We got right in and had a wonderful lunch. We had an appetizer of andouille sausage stuffed mushrooms. We loved them! I ordered the crab cakes and my husband had the Monte cristo sandwich. Our bill came to about $40. Everything was delicious. We love the Blue Bayou and HAVE to eat there every time we go! After lunch we walked around for a bit and went over to Small World. By now the park was getting very crowded and there was a little bit of a wait. At about 2, we started down Main Street to do a little shopping. We stopped for ice cream (which was yummy!), bought some stuff and at about 3 headed back to our hotel. We were both pretty tired since we'd been up since 5 so we took a little nap. At five we headed over to Tony Romas to meet my cousin and her husband who had decided at the last minute to go to Disneyland for one day! We had a great dinner (the New York steak was fabulous). At about 6:30 we went back to the park. We decided to give the new Autopia a try and ended up waiting for an hour and half. I would highly recommend Fast Pass for this ride. While we were waiting, tons and tons of fast pass people were getting right on the ride. Everyone in line was getting angry, but the fast pass people get to go before those waiting in line. By now it is close to 8:30 so we decide to try and find a spot to watch the fireworks. We ended up right by the Matterhorn and it was a perfect spot. The fireworks began a little after 9 and it was fantastic!! It brought tears to my eyes. My husband was even impressed. My husband said that he hadn't seen me that happy since our wedding day!!! After the fireworks display was finished, snow began falling from the trees. It was just beautiful. My husband and I were pretty tired so we shopped a little bit more and at 10:30 went back to the hotel. Day 3 - Disneyland/Medieval Times The park was not opening until 9 and there was no early morning so we slept until about 6:30. We left at 7:30 and went to eat breakfast at Millie's which was on our hotel property. They had a breakfast buffet and my husband was in heaven. I guess all the walking the day before made him hungry because he ate a ton! I had an omelet, which was pretty good. Overall the place got two thumbs up from us. After we ate we headed over to the park. The gates were opened at 8:30 but you couldn't get past Main Street. As we came in there were a bunch of characters milling around so we took pictures with some of them (I am a scrapbooker and pictures are very important, even if we are adults!). I felt a little foolish waiting in line with kids to have my picture taken, but it didn't bother me too much. At 9 they opened the park and we once again headed for Tomorrowland. We rode Space Mountain again and then checked out Honey I Shrunk the Audience. It was pretty cute. My husband wanted to play a few video games at the Starcade so I shopped a bit. I also took pictures of Tomorrowland. Once he was finished we checked out Innoventions. We weren't very impressed with it. I guess it's pretty neat for kids, but we didn't enjoy it much. After Innoventions, we headed over to Adventureland and got right on the Jungle Cruise. The line for Indiana Jones was huge so we got fastpasses (it was 10:30) and the passes told us to come back between 12 & 1. We rode Pirates again and then took the train to Toontown. I really love the Roger Rabbit Cartoon Spin ride, but unfortunately it was closed down! We walked around Toontown for a while and then walked back over to Adventureland. It was 10 minutes to 12 so we got something to drink and waited. Right at twelve we entered the fastpass line and got on the ride within 5 minutes! I highly recommend fastpass. After the ride we ate lunch at the French Market. We both had Jambalaya. It was good, but a little too spicy for me. My husband loved it. We were tired once again so we did some final shopping and left Disneyland at about 2. Overall, we had a fabulous time and did everything we wanted to do. The only thing we didn't like was that Frontierland seems to be under some major renovations and nothing was open there! We went back to our hotel and napped. At about 5:45 we headed over to Medieval Times. For those of you that have never been there before, I highly recommend it. It is so much fun. We go there every time we go to Disneyland. It's my husband's favorite place. We got in at 6:15 and got our section (black & white) and then browsed the shop and got drinks from the bar. At 7 they started seating and we got in the front row. We had a blast and diner was so good. They served chicken, a rib, potato, soup, some kind of pizza appetizer, and dessert. It was delicious. We had fun cheering on our knight. We didn't get back until 10 so we missed the fireworks :(. We fell right a sleep. All this fun really wore us out! Day 4 - Travel Day We had to be home early in order to pick up our dog from the kennel and get home in time to watch the Raider game so we left at 6:30 am knowing that traffic would be a bear. We were right. It took us 2 hours to get through LA. We stopped for lunch at Pea Soup Andersen's in Santa Nella and then got home about 2. It was a fantastic weekend getaway. Tina Allman Tlovesdis@aol.com Mail a Comment to Tina Allman |
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