PPB's Super-Forever TR! DisDivas Trip TR Coming SOON!

[DizNee Luver]

I'm loving this so far....... I love the pictures of the entrance.....makes me miss being there already!!!!! Keep em comin'

[prettyprincessbelle]

Originally Posted by DizNee Luver

I'm loving this so far....... I love the pictures of the entrance.....makes me miss being there already!!!!! Keep em comin'

Woohoo! Doesn't make you miss it? It does to me too and I was just there!

[prettyprincessbelle]

...CONT...

Hi ya'll! Here's some more TR goodness!

After that we headed over to HM.









Constance kind of scares Jesus.





So after HM we headed over to Critter Country to check out the line for Splash.

Now it was VERY VERY cold. Super cold. But of course everyone wants to go on Splash. I was hestistant, but I had a trusty (okay, not trusty AT ALL) poncho in my bag. I volunteer to sit in the front like a dumb dumb. But Splash is still one of my favorite rides.



We love the Hungry Bear!



FPs weren't all gone like normal. Probably because it was COLD!





Look at all that COLD water!



So, the poncho did not work AT ALL. I was soaked. Completely just SOAKED. Everytime we went down the flumes, my poncho flew up. Terrible. Here's our on ride picture. From front to back, me, Eddie, Jesus, Mom, Dad and Ramon. You barely see Jesus' Dad and brother in the back.



At least I wasn't the only one wet! Jesus is in the middle with the black shirt, Ramon on the right, Eddie on the left.



After that we needed something warm and yummy. Clam chowder!!!



After lunch we went to BTRRM. We had to go through the exit for this one too. We waited about 10 minutes. From the opposite side of the loading area.\







We paired up so I went with Ramon, Jesus with Eddie and their parents together.







...CONT...

[Sherry E]

Courtney, you look so cute in your poncho - even though it totally didn't get the job done in keeping you dry! Jesus and his dad look very much alike, from what I can tell. They seem to have the same facial structure.

I am liking the new pink Cybershot's pictures a lot so far! They seem very clear and in focus. Are you happy with the camera, or is it still a work in progress? (I can't wait to see what a mess I will make of my new Canon's pictures the next time I get to DLR!)

[prettyprincessbelle]

...CONT...

Okay, where was I? I have no idea where to book our other PS for my birthday trip. We were thinking BB, and then the BBQ place, and now I have no idea. Jesus is no help "whatever you want! It's your birthday!!" Blah, thanks!!

We're thinking after this trip we're just going to take Saturday and Sunday trips every or every other month once we (hopefully!!) renew our APs. We probably won't renew our APs until July or August though. They expire May 16th (Jasmine's birthday!!!). Okay! So, back on track!

We walked through Big Thunder Trail to my favoritest (is that a word?) place, Fantasyland!! I love love Fantasyland, but it is always so dang crowded. Look at all the peoples!





OMG. Monstro!!!



It's the love cup! (It has hearts. Love cup. Get it?)



We then went to ride the Matterhorn, but the lines were super super long, so we skipped it. Walking over by Nemo the beautiful Monorail Orange went over us.



We made our way over to Tomorrowland and rode Space. For some reason I have no pictures to document this. Well here is where thing learned #3 comes in. Thing Learned #3: Just because you're waiting in the wheelchair/GAC line does NOT mean you're going to have a shorter wait. I know this has been discussed on the Dis before and boy is it true. The standby time was 50 minutes, we waited about 40, which is better than almost an hour, but boy did we not move for pretty much the whole 30 minutes. I always assumed that the wait time is shorter, but it's not. Just because the line looks shorter does not mean the wait is shorter. People who rent wheelchairs just to have shorter standby times, it's totally not worth it.

Okay, so after that we went to Star Tours. The standby time was posted at 10 minutes. I was surprised they had the other room open for the line. I hardly ever see it open and I've never waited in it. But we didn't wait in the cool queue with R2 and the big space thingy though.

This guy was in that queue room.



Well after that it started to sprinkle and it was getting around 6pm. We all headed for the hotel. I have no pictures of the hotel. But it was nice. We stayed at the Clarion right across from the Hilton next to the convention center. The hotel was a lot nicer than I thought it was going to be. Very clean which is a plus. We had a "studio suite". It wasn't really a suite, just a very big regular room. It had 2 full beds and couch with a pull out bed. One bathroom and one desk with a chair. It also had a mini fridge and a microwave. I was surprised we weren't that squished with 6 of us in that room. Jesus and I shared a bed, his Mom was on the other while his Dad and 2 brothers all slept on the floor. The bed was comfy. His parents got a super deal through hotels.com. Besides the $12/day parking, we will possibly stay there again.

After we all got settled, the family wanted snacks so Jesus, his Mom and I went to the Target that's down the street on Harbor. We got some snacks and soda. I had a killer headache and needed some caffiene, so the Pepsi (I'm not a Pepsi girl either) totally hit the spot. After we got back to the hotel, I put on another layer and changed my still slightly damp jeans, the 3 boys and I went back to the park while his Mom and Dad stayed in the room and rested.

We parked in the Timon lot and took the tram to the entrance plaza. We were a little hungry so Jesus and Eddie waited in line and got us some jalepeno cheese stuffed pretzels and some vanilla Coke and we took a seat at a table at the Coke Corner and ate them. Eddie loved them so much he went back and bought 3. What a dork. We shared 1 more and he took the other 2 back to his parents. He walked around with a bag of pretzels all night.

After that we went on the Matterhorn and waited about 15 minutes. As soon as we boarded our bobsled the fireworks started. It was SO amazing to see the fireworks as you're wizzing around through that mountain. Especially seeing Tinkerbell fly over me, wow, that totally made my night. After our ride we stopped right in the IASW mall and watched the rest of RDCT. This was probably our last time seeing it as it won't be playing in 2 weeks since we're going during the week.

See how grainy my night pictures are? Ew.





I love how they launch fireworks from the Matterhorn.











This one came out cool.



After that we went on BTMRR again. The wait time was about 10 minutes. This ride is super fantastic at night. Again, I have no pictures to show this!

Ramon wanted to go in the NBC store in NOS, so we made our way that way. Someone walked out of Club 33 while we walked by. I wish they held the door open for me!



Pirate's sign.



We then walked to Adventureland and Jesus wanted the boys to try a Dole Whip so I went and got one while they waited. We all shared it and finished it in about 3 minutes (no kidding). After that we waited to see the Tiki Room since Ramon and Eddie never have seen it.

From the Tiki Room queue area.



I love the Tiki Room!!



We then went through the stores on Main Street and made our way out the park.

Goodnight, Walt!



After that we headed to Carl's Jr down on Harbor to get dinner. No meat since it was Good Friday, but by the time we got to Carl's Jr it was after 12am, so burgers it was! We went back to the hotel super tired, ate dinner, and then I slept like a rock. DCA wasn't opening until 10am, so we could sleep in a little. I was determined to be the first in the shower, so I woke up the earliest, but I still slept good.

Up next! Pretty crowded DCA!

[prettyprincessbelle]

Originally Posted by Sherry E

Courtney, you look so cute in your poncho - even though it totally didn't get the job done in keeping you dry! Jesus and his dad look very much alike, from what I can tell. They seem to have the same facial structure.

I am liking the new pink Cybershot's pictures a lot so far! They seem very clear and in focus. Are you happy with the camera, or is it still a work in progress? (I can't wait to see what a mess I will make of my new Canon's pictures the next time I get to DLR!)

Hi Sherry!!

Jesus looks very much like his Dad. He looks the most like his Dad out of the 3 boys. Eddie looks like the Mom and Ramon is in the middle of the 2. Since I started dating Jesus (6 years ago!) it's cool seeing his brothers grow up. Eddie is now taller than Jesus and Ramon has gotten just huge! Poor Jesus is the shortest and oldest. Both boys were so baby to me when I first met them.

I really love my Cybershot, especially looking at the pictures on the computer. They looked okay on the camera screen, but I really like them looking at the computer. I was actually really impressed! The only thing is the dang night/indoor shots. I need to change the ISO (right?) settings. It's way too grainy and gross. Off to read that dang manual again.

[prettyprincessbelle]

Wow, the TR side of the board is popping. My TR is getting towards the bottom!

So we leave in 11 DAYS for my birthday trip. I'm SO SO excited. SO excited. I'm excited it's my birthday, I'm excited I'm going to DL again, I'm super excited that this is my FOURTH birthday I've spent at DLR in a ROW! It's going to be a tradition forever.

I pretty much figured out what I'm getting with my birthday fun card. But who knows that may change. I want this new DLR resort CD. This past weekend is the first time I've seen it and on the back the release date is 2008. It's a 2 disc (and it's not the 50th anniversary one). It's $29.99 and I can't find it on amazon or ebay for cheaper, so I'll get it at the park. There's also a book I found, it's new too because I've never seen it. I don't remember the title but it's a history-ish type thing. It has a light blue cover and Walt Disney is on it. That's $9.99 (I was surprised it was so cheap. It's a pretty big/thick book). I can't find this one online either. The last thing I found was a sweatshirt. I think it's kids? But the XL was really big and I fit in little kid's XL sweatshirts. This is $32.00. It's dark blue with Disneyland across the front in that retro looking theme with the castle in the back. With my AP discount this puts me at $64 and some change. Woo! Birthday gifts from Disneyland!! With that extra $3 and change I'll buy a Tigger Tail or something.

I'm trying to figure out if there is anything else I need to do. Just pack, but I won't do that yet. I haven't even checked what the weather will be like.

Oh yeah. For those of you who hadn't had your birthday yet, I kept hearing that Disneyland.com was not sending out the PDF you print to present at DL for your free ticket/fun card/etc. Well I went and registered AGAIN and DL emailed me with the PDF and the email said I was already registered that I don't need to again, but print this out and take it to get in free. So I printed it out. It has a bar code so I guess they just scan it?

[Docter419]

Awesome Trip Report! Can't wait for more

[Sherry E]

I was telling all of my friends last year to register for the free birthday admission and it dawned on me that I had never received any kind of confirmation via e-mail. I was thinking maybe I would get it closer to my actual birthday in July, but then I read some DIS'ers' posts about receiving the e-mail confirmation immediately after registering. So I did exactly what you did (about a month or so ago) - I registered again, just to be sure. And I got the same message - that I was already registered and didn't need to re-register. But, still, after the second time doing it, THEN they sent me the e-mail with the code on it. The code was right there on the e-mail. So even though they said it was not necessary to re-register, I am glad I did because I got the e-mail with the code. Why didn't they send the code the first time around? I suspect that so many folks registered that maybe there was a glitch in the system somewhere and the computer didn't send all the numbers out as it should have.

The other thing that is driving me nuts about the get-in-free on your b-day thing is that just recently, somewhere I saw a different explanation of what you can get on your b-day if you already have Hoppers or what your choices are based on the different level of tickets. It was basically the same info we all already know but it was laid out differently than I had seen before. They broke it down in a different way, like 'if you have a 2-day hopper, you can get this or that or that,' and 'if you have a one-day/one-park ticket, you can only get this or that,' etc. For the life of me I cannot recall where I saw it and it is driving me crazy! I don't remember which website it was. The reason why this particular layout of what you get on your birthday was important to me is that it seemed to imply that if you have already have a one-day HOPPER, you can get an alternate gift such as the gift card. But on the DIS, everyone seems to imply that any kind of one-day ticket, whether it be for one park or a Hopper, does not qualify anyone for the gift card. This one website I looked at - whatever it was - broke it down in such a way that every level of ticket was clearly explained as far as what you get or could not get and I think already having the 1-day Hopper qualified for a alternate gift of the gift card or somethign else. This website I stumbled on accidentally was the only place I had seen it explained that way - every other place just seems to refer to AP's, to one-day/one-park tickets OR to multi-day Hoppers. But nowhere do you see a one-day Hopper mentioned. This was important to know for sure because certain friends of mine who do not have AP's would only have one-day Hoppers on their birthdays (they would probably print those at home in advance) and would want the gift card instead.

You are not kidding about this side of the board being busy! Last week sometime I posted more pictures on my TR, and within a few hours the TR dropped waaaaaaaaaay down on the page! What is happening is that a lot of folks are doing pre-TR's, I think. You practically have to post twice every day just to keep the TR up in the top 20 Trip Reports!

[shishigirl]

Just read your trip reports and love them! Looking at all your great pictures makes me want to be there! Thanks for the fix! Can't wait to read more of your recent trip!

[prettyprincessbelle]

Originally Posted by Docter419

Awesome Trip Report! Can't wait for more

Thank you so much! I'm glad you enjoy it!

Originally Posted by Sherry E

I was telling all of my friends last year to register for the free birthday admission and it dawned on me that I had never received any kind of confirmation via e-mail. I was thinking maybe I would get it closer to my actual birthday in July, but then I read some DIS'ers' posts about receiving the e-mail confirmation immediately after registering. So I did exactly what you did (about a month or so ago) - I registered again, just to be sure. And I got the same message - that I was already registered and didn't need to re-register. But, still, after the second time doing it, THEN they sent me the e-mail with the code on it. The code was right there on the e-mail. So even though they said it was not necessary to re-register, I am glad I did because I got the e-mail with the code. Why didn't they send the code the first time around? I suspect that so many folks registered that maybe there was a glitch in the system somewhere and the computer didn't send all the numbers out as it should have.

The other thing that is driving me nuts about the get-in-free on your b-day thing is that just recently, somewhere I saw a different explanation of what you can get on your b-day if you already have Hoppers or what your choices are based on the different level of tickets. It was basically the same info we all already know but it was laid out differently than I had seen before. They broke it down in a different way, like 'if you have a 2-day hopper, you can get this or that or that,' and 'if you have a one-day/one-park ticket, you can only get this or that,' etc. For the life of me I cannot recall where I saw it and it is driving me crazy! I don't remember which website it was. The reason why this particular layout of what you get on your birthday was important to me is that it seemed to imply that if you have already have a one-day HOPPER, you can get an alternate gift such as the gift card. But on the DIS, everyone seems to imply that any kind of one-day ticket, whether it be for one park or a Hopper, does not qualify anyone for the gift card. This one website I looked at - whatever it was - broke it down in such a way that every level of ticket was clearly explained as far as what you get or could not get and I think already having the 1-day Hopper qualified for a alternate gift of the gift card or somethign else. This website I stumbled on accidentally was the only place I had seen it explained that way - every other place just seems to refer to AP's, to one-day/one-park tickets OR to multi-day Hoppers. But nowhere do you see a one-day Hopper mentioned. This was important to know for sure because certain friends of mine who do not have AP's would only have one-day Hoppers on their birthdays (they would probably print those at home in advance) and would want the gift card instead.

You are not kidding about this side of the board being busy! Last week sometime I posted more pictures on my TR, and within a few hours the TR dropped waaaaaaaaaay down on the page! What is happening is that a lot of folks are doing pre-TR's, I think. You practically have to post twice every day just to keep the TR up in the top 20 Trip Reports!

I got an email after I registered. I think. Hold on. Let me look. Okay, just kidding, I didn't either. I remember reading, and I'm guessing on the DL website that a couple weeks before you birthday you'll get an email with the print out to take the gates. But then on the Dis and other message boards I kept reading no one was getting them.

Now I'm confused. So what if you pre-buy your ticket and show up at Guest Services with your 1 day PH? Do you get the alternative gifts? I always thought it was you need a 2 day or more PH to get the alternative gifts. So say you go to DL, stand in line at the ticket booths, buy a 2 day PH and then you go to Guest Services, show your PH and get the alternative gift? Hmmm. I guess I never really thought it out because I knew I was getting a Fun Card... I want to take my parents for their birthdays this year (July and December), now I feel like I need to know the answer!

Originally Posted by shishigirl

Just read your trip reports and love them! Looking at all your great pictures makes me want to be there! Thanks for the fix! Can't wait to read more of your recent trip!

Thank you for reading!!!!!

Everyone else come say hi! I have a lot of views, don't be shy!

[Sherry E]

We have to see if we can get your TR views up to 50,000! Woo hoo!

Yes, I think you would have to either get the 2-day Hopper in advance (like print it at home or get it from a Disney Store), or at the ticket booths at the DLR gates, then go into the park and show it to whoever doles out the gift cards. But if you don't have a multi-day Hopper, then you just get the one-day/one-park ticket and go in. That sounds like how it is working. So, let's say my friend and usual Disneyland companion Shawn wants to have a gift card on her b-day, which is 12/26. What she would probably have to do is get a multi-day Hopper on our DLR trip in the earlier part of December (if we go) and save a couple of days of it to use ON her b-day to get the card. I don't know - I kind of think that DLR should give everyone the option of having a gift card if they want it. Even the ones with one-day Hoppers, even the ones with one-day/one-park tickets - everybody. Just give everyone the option of either getting in free or getting the gift card, Fast Pass, whatever they want. Since we don't have to use the card on our birthdays now, someone may want to go to the gates and get the card for later use but not go IN the park that day. I don't see why people can't do that. I think they should be allowed to. Plus, I think it can be used in World of Disney too, which does not require getting into the park.

[prettyprincessbelle]

Maybe I'll get it up to 50,000! That's a heck of a lot!! Wooop!

I think you're right. And I think you're right about letting everyone have that opition. Or at least for the non-AP or multi-day PH holders maybe have the fun card ONLY allowed inside DL so they would have to buy a ticket. You know? Because then Disney would be getting the money of their family/friends possibly buying tickets and food or other merchandise, etc. It would be the same thing has having a free ticket!

[prettyprincessbelle]

Saturday, April 11th - DLR Day 2

Howdy everyone!! So this day was our DCA day. We normally don't do "days", we just park hop whenever we feel like it. But the rest of his family had 2fers, so we had no choice. We checked out of the hotel right before 11am (check out time) and we went straight to the parks. We probably lined up here right at or a little after 11am. The park opened at 10am this day. Look at how many people were in line at the turnstiles!





It was kind of chilly this day. Not as cold as the day before, but I was still cold. We waited right here by the planters while Jesus' Mom went and got a wheelchair for his Dad. As we were waiting the HSM thing went by.

Pretty golden gate bridge.





His parents were hungry so went to the Bakersfield Bakery to get some breakfast. I stood with his Mom in line and snapped some pictures of the yummy food.

I really want this cake for my birthday, isn't it cute?







I have a thing for Mickey Rice Krispies.



This is what Jesus' parents got. I had a piece and it was really yummy.



After breakfast we made our way around the park a bit.



We went and got FPs for the family for Soarin' and went on our way to get FPs for GRR (or so we thought!)





And here is where we discovered that GRR was now connected to the FP system. Was this posted on the Dis? Because if so, I totally missed it. After that disappointment, we walked over towards Paradise Pier.

The bathroom refurbing on San Francisco street.





Mickey is almost there!



This would look pretty without the walls.



World of Color!





Dino with shades.



I really like this ride, it's fun. But the line was about 60 minutes, eh, not worth it.



Our next stop? The Maliboomer!







...CONT...

[kaoden39]

Oh my gosh that pastry looked so good.