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Patrick Edaburn -- December 1998 -- Disneyland
Pre-planning This was sort of a conciliation trip for us. We had planned to do a two-week trip to WDW, but a combination of financial and scheduling problems forced us to cancel. Since we had DL annual passes good through mid-December, we decided to head down to LA. After a bit of research, we planned our trip for the first week of December. Late enough for the park to be in holiday mode, but early enough to be less crowded. Knowing that the road construction makes the shuttles to the park almost pointless, we booked a hotel on Harbor, the Ramada Maingate (also called Saga Inn) Day One: Saturday 12/5 The first day of the trip was fairly uneventful as we drove down from our home in Stockton, California to Anaheim. For once we managed to get out at a decent hour (around 10 am), so we arrived in Anaheim by 5:30. For those who wonder if the LA freeways are really as bad as their reputation, the answer is yes. It took us about 5 hrs to drive the 300 miles from Stockton to LA, and another 1-2 hours to go the 50 miles into Anaheim. On the way down we stopped in Tulare at a place called Apple Annies for lunch. For those travelling down 99 to the LA area, it's a nice place to stop and eat. They serve HUGE and tasty turkey sandwiches, and the whole place is themed like grandma's house, with lots of friendly servers. For two, the meal ran a very reasonable $ 15, including drinks. We checked into the Ramada and got a nice room towards the back. The room was not super luxury, but for $ 50 a night it was pretty nice. For those looking for something between Motel 6 and a nicer $ 100 per night place, the Ramada is a nice middle of the road spot. It's on the corner of Harbor and Katella, right across from the park. While planning our trip I had run into an old friend online, and he was living in the LA area, so we planned a dinner meet for Saturday. Our hotel has a Tony Roma's on site, so we met there and had a nice meal. I'll dispense with a detailed review of the food as most of us have been to a chain eatery like this, but it's nice to have it right by the hotel. For two of us, meals and drink ran $ 20 with tip. After dinner we headed back to the room and relaxed, then early to bed to prepare for Sunday in the park. Day Two: Sunday 12/6 Our day began with a real bang, literally. Around 4 am Lori and I both awoke to a huge rain and windstorm outside our hotel room. We later learned that this had actually been what they call a 'microburst'. In essence it's as close as you can get to a tornado without having it actually touch down. The park opened at 9, but we didn't get over until around 10. I've found that once you start making several trips a year, bounding out of bed at the crack of dawn becomes less important. I really think this helps to make the trip more relaxing. Because we were so close to the park we decided to walk. For anyone staying on Harbor, I suggest this plan. It took us 10 minutes to walk from our room to the park gates, shorter that a shuttle ride would have been. The winds were still with us, but had died down to periodic gusts. We proceeded out to Main Street and were stunned by the fantastic decorations. A huge tree stood right up front, with lights, garlands and just about everything else turning Main Street into a Norman Rockwell picture. One problem we noticed at the castle. The moat on either side of the bridge going into the castle usually features two huge trees at the holidays, but this year the wind had wiped them out. I guess even the Disney magic can't overcome nature. Our first target was Critter Country, as we wanted to see the Country Bear show before things got crowded. A power failure, caused by the wind, had shut down much of the park, and things were just getting back up. This meant huge lines at most of the rides, but again I can hardly blame Disney for the weather. Inside the Country Bear show, things were all set up for the holidays. We weren't real impressed with this show last year, but I guess we were in a bad mood that time, because the show this year was great. All of the stars, including 'Bearvis' were in holiday decor and the songs really put us in the holiday mood. After Country Bear we headed into New Orleans Square. We hoped the lines had cleared up while we were in the show. To our delight, they had so we first went on Pirates. The ride was clean and looked like it had been really kept up well. We also liked that they had kept the super dark sections, which add to the mood of the ride. Haunted Mansion was next, and the show there was wonderful as always. One of the fun things about this ride is getting in a group that knows the show. They joined us in following along with the dialogue, all the way to the final lightning crash. By this time it was near lunch, so we went back to Critter Country and ate at the Hungry Bear. I think this is one of the best spots in the park. Out on the deck, looking onto the Rivers of America, you'd swear you weren't in a theme park, but really at some quiet county scene. We were a big disappointed to see that chicken strips are no longer sold, but enjoyed the cheeseburgers and fries, with drinks the meal cost $ 15 for the two of us. A quick word on DL food, I think that it has gotten a bit of a bum rap. To be sure, if your idea of a normal meal is the Four Seasons, then you are going to be disappointed, but if like most of us you eat at Denny's and Burger King, I think you'll find the food comparable. After lunch we decided to indulge our inner child and started looking for characters to get pictures with. To our delight, we found Pooh Bear, Tigger and Eeyore all dressed for the holidays and with short lines. In under an hour we had great pictures with all of them. After the photos were done, we headed over to Fantasyland. By this time the winds had picked up again, and we hoped that this would mean short lines in Fantasyland. It did. We were able to ride every ride in Fantasyland except Dumbo within a couple of hours. I know many 'grownups' ignore this section of the park, but the detail on some of these rides is worth a look. It was now mid-afternoon and we headed over to Main Street for a snack. The bakery sells some wonderfully evil cinnamon rolls, and we decided to split one along with some hot chocolate. The snack was $ 10. We were pleased to hear Rod playing his piano at Coke Corner, and sat down to listen. I asked Rod about his no longer doing the famous duets, and he told me, and I quote, that "that was not what kind of activity the park wanted going on". Sad to see them restrict the fun. After our snack we headed into Toontown, and were pleased to see that they are keeping things well maintained. Pluto, Goofy and Donald all posed for us, and we got some great pictures with them. By now it was getting close to dinnertime. We rode the monorail over to the hotels, but most of the restaurants were crowded, so we decided to eat in the park. We didn't see as many holiday decorations here this year, but the pool is under construction, so that really limited what they could do. The new pool is set to open next year with a Pinocchio theme, and it looks like it will be nice. In the park we ate at Red Rockets in Tomorrowland. Dinner was good, we both had pizza, with bread sticks for an appetizer. For the two of us, including drinks, ran around $ 15. We returned to the park to see IASW at night, and it was impressive. The whole façade is decked out in holiday lights and is amazing to see. Another note on IASW Christmas, I was interested at how wide a range of people rode it. Usually IASW is kids, older folks, and die-hards like us. But this time it was everyone, and they all seemed very impressed. I guess the basic rule is if you like IASW you’ll like this, and if you don’t like IASW you might be surprised. If you really hate IASW, then you probably won’t like this. We then went to watch the Christmas parade and were again impressed (how many times have I said impressed??)…. The music was lively, the floats beautiful and the characters (just about every Disney character you can think of) were really spirited. The ride ends with Pluto as Rudolph towing Santa in a sleigh that ‘flies’ about 20 feet off the ground. Day Three: Monday 12/7 Today the weather was much better. Lori had been bothered by allergies from the wind on Sunday, but today was much better. We got into the park at about 9:30, with opening set for 10. One change is that when Disney says park opening is at 10, they really mean it. On past trips the park had often opened a bit early, letting us 'normals' get in with the early entry folks. Now they wait until 10. While we were waiting for the rope to drop, someone was overcome by the crowd and passed out. I was very impressed at how quickly park workers reacted to the incident and cleared a space for the medical folks to hurry in. I give them credit for a quick response. Once the park opened, we hurried over to Blue Bayou to reserve a spot for lunch. We then made a quick run through Pirates and Haunted Mansion, pleased at the complete lack of lines. While there had been a large crowd on Main Street, most headed to Tomorrowland and Adventureland, leaving the rest of the park nearly empty. We then headed over to Fantasyland for IASW. We noticed that they had cleaned up the fallen trees by the castle. They hadn't replaced them yet, but considering the fact that winds were predicted for the rest of the week, I can understand them waiting until things calmed down a bit. Small World was even better this year than last year. I won't spoil any of the fun for those who are going to ride it, but they went all out this year making the holiday look great. As I heard one person comment, you would swear you were on a different ride. By this time it was getting close to lunch, so we did a little touring through the park and headed over to Blue Bayou. As is our tradition, we split a Monte Christo sandwich. This is one of the best treats in the park, and is well worth the wait. For two of us, the sandwich was more than enough. With drinks and tip, the meal costs us $ 20. After lunch, we headed into Tomorrowland and did Honey I Shrunk the Audience, Innoventions and Star Tours. I have always enjoyed Honey and Star Tours, and it was really fun to see 'newbies' experience HISTA. Innoventions was also nice, but I think it still needs to grow a bit. Things are still rough at the edges. However, it does look to be a great attraction, once the bugs work themselves out. We then moved back into Critter Country, taking a ride down Splash Mountain. I really enjoy this ride, and look forward to trying it at WDW next year. We then took a ride on Thunder Mountain, also a lot of fun. This is one of the best 'detail' rides in the park, but it's often hard to spot them as you whiz around the track. We took another run through Country Bears and yet another move through Pirates and Haunted Mansion (do you think we like these rides ??). We then headed to Main Street to decorate Christmas cookies. Every year they set up a decorating table in the fire station. Our timing this day was perfect, just as we began to decorate cookies, the sing along began nearby, so we got to decorate our snack and enjoy the music. We spent the rest of the day enjoying the park and watching the Christmas Parade by night. While waiting for the parade we began to chat with some folks around us. I think this is one of the nicest things about a visit is meeting folks from around the world. We also were on the scene for the flag retreat. For those who have never seen it, the flag ceremony is one of the nicest I've seen. We were starting to tire out, so we headed back to our hotel. Dinner was a quick meal at McDonalds, and then we were quickly in bed for a good nights sleep. Day Four: Tuesday 12/8 We had decided that we would get out of the park this time, so we looked into visiting Universal Studios. We were pleased to learn that through the end of the year, they are offering a $ 10 discount on tickets for California residents, so we got in for $ 28 each instead of the regular $ 38. The drive up was uneventful. From Disneyland to Universal Studios is about a 1 hour drive, and we made in to the park by 10:30. After parking, we made our way down the Citywalk. Citywalk is a shopping and entertainment district similar to Downtown Disney at WDW. The decorations here were nice, but not as impressive as those in Disneyland. Inside Universal Studios, we were quite impressed at the holiday decor. One thing I liked was that they did have a couple places that acknowledged the religious significance to the holiday. It wasn't overbearing, and was subtle enough to not offend non-Christians, but also accepted that this is, at it's core, a religious holiday. Universal Studios is set up on two levels on a hillside. The upper level is where you enter, and it features about half of the park rides. You then travel down a series of escalators to the second level. On the upper level, we first headed to the Back to The Future ride. This has to be the best ride I have ever been on. You board 'cars' which take you on a time travel adventure. The screen surrounds you so it is literally like you are in the middle of the action. The detail and effects here are amazing. We then headed over to the ET ride, which is based on the movie. You board cycles and fly thorough an adventure to rescue ET and save his planet. This is strictly a kids ride and won't thrill you very much, but the detail is worth at least on ride through. We were now getting close to lunch, so we headed back to the Citywalk and ate at the Hard Rock Cafe. We had burgers and fries, which ran $ 25 with drinks and tip. The food is ok, but the theming is nice and it is a fun place to remember your high school days. After lunch we took the backlot tour. This takes you through several 'attractions' ranging from Jaws to Earthquake as well as giving you a tour of the back lots of Universal Studios. It is a very interesting tour and offers you lots of tidbits. We were lucky enough to have a great driver/tour guide, and this really added to the fun. After the tour we headed to the lower lot where we took in Backdraft. This is a ride/attraction based on the Ron Howard movie in which you experience a real fire (hot enough to make your eyes water). It is among the more impressive special effects attractions I've seen. We finished up the day with a behind the scenes show about movies and sound effects. You get to learn just how special effects are done for movies and how sounds are put into the completed movies. It's an informative hour long show and also lets you sit down after a lot of walking. By now it was late afternoon so we did some shopping. Universal sells some of the best coffee cups I've ever seen, so we picked up a few of those. We then got a snack and headed out to watch the tree lighting ceremony. The Universal tree ceremony is much better than the one at Disneyland, though the hotel ceremony at Disneyland last year was impressive. After the tree lighting, Santa came riding in aboard a 1957 cherry red Ford Mustang, which made most of the guys in the crowd wish for that under the tree on Christmas. Once the tree lighting was done we headed into the park again and watched the lights and decorations. The lighting here was as impressive as any I've seen, with the whole upper section of the park lit up. It is similar to how the hub area of Disneyland looks, but a little more spread out. Day Five: Wednesday 12/9 Today was our last day, so the wind gods decided to say a hearty good-bye. The legendary Santa Ana winds picked up, bringing in gusts of more than 60 miles per hour at the park, and in excess of 100 (yes, I did mean 100), in the hills. Going into the park we noticed the preview center for California Adventure was open. California Adventure is the new theme park set to open in 2001. We decided to check it out and were pleased to see it looks like a great addition. One change is the addition of a Downtown Disney section like they have at WDW, lots of shops and eateries outside the park. The food is likely to be better and more reasonably priced. They will have a Planet Hollywood, Rainforest Cafe and several other restaurants. A second addition is the Grand Californian hotel. This hotel will be physically inside the new park, you just walk out the back door and you are inside the park. This will also be a monorail resort, similar to the Contemporary at WDW. The train will go right through the middle of the hotel, which is modeled after the Wilderness Lodge at WDW. The park itself will be themed after California (thus the name). The Hollywood section will be a mini version of Disney-MGM studios, with Muppetvision 3-D, a tram tour and various other Hollywood themed attractions. No sign of Tower of Terror, but that is rumored to be in line at Disneyland itself. The San Francisco section will feature a waterfront, and is modeled after Fisherman's Wharf in the real SF. One of the neatest looking attractions is the hang glider attraction, which will offer a 360 degree video ride through the signs of California. From what I see this may rival Back to the Future as the best attractions in any theme park. Another area of the park will feature a white water rapids ride which may make Splash Mountain look like a kiddie ride. After leaving the preview center, we headed into the park. We hadn't done Tiki Room or Great Moments with Mr. Lincoln, so we went and did them. I know some folks think these are corny, but I don't think a park visit is complete without a visit to these two attractions. They both open a couple hours after the park, and while I do see the point of those who say they should open with the park, I can understand that since they don't attract huge crowds, that opening them late makes sense. We then headed over to the Monorail Cafe for lunch. This is one place I will be sorry to see go (it's set for closure and demolition in the Spring). I really hope they rebuild it or something similar in Downtown Disney. We had some HUGE turkey sandwiches, drinks and Mickey Mousearella sticks. The meal was a bit pricey at $ 30, but the sandwiches were so big we took half of them with us to eat on the road. We then did a little shopping on Main Street and headed out for home. The winds were REAL strong (one of the few times I have actually had trouble walking against the wind). Our drive home was fairly uneventful, and we were back in Stockton by 10pm. Anyway, that’s pretty much our trip. If you have questions, feel free to E-mail me at Troosvelt@aol.com and I’ll do my best to answer them. Patrick Edaburn troosvelt@aol.com Mail a Comment to Patrick Edaburn |
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