Originally Posted By princess_tink We booked this trip a couple months back as a get well present for our daughter (5 yrs old - had open heart surgery at the end of July) 7 of us flew from Calgary, Canada and the other 3 who live in california met us there (10 total - 8 adults, 2 children) We arrived in anaheim on Thursday night. Got to bed around 1am. Woke up Friday Oct 7th at 7am to get to the park for 8am. Peterpan was our first ride for the trip :>) we then rode 7 more rides in the morning before our scheduled break. My daughter went to club libby Lu to get all glittered up (make Over) and then we headed on over to california adventure to have the princess lunch at ariels Grotto. BTW this was awesome!!!!!! The princesses that were there were: Belle, Aurora, Snowwhite, Cinderella and of course Ariel. Well my daughters favorite princess is Ariel (we have EVERYTHING ariel) and when she came up to our table our glitter princess was lost for words, and had tears of joy and just kept saying "I can't beleive your here" It was a very magical moment! We pretty much rolled out of there being so stuffed! We then grabbed soarin and grizzly run fast passes and went back to the hotel for a needed swim and nap (it was very hot ) We then headed back to the park. We used our soarin / grizzly fast passes then headed over to tower of terror and we completely lucked out. There was a lady on the corner who was giving away fastpasses to the TOT! So we walked right on that! We then headed over for the firworks at DL! AMAZING! FANTASTIC WOWOWOWOWOWOW After the fireworks my daughter really wanted to do some "kiddie rides" so we went over to fantasyland and literally walked onto carasoul, dumbo, toad. we then returned to our room, ordered pizza and went to sleep! Saturday morning we got up and drove to universal studios as we knew disneyland would be crazy busy this day. We had a fabulous day there! If you have children, remember to bring there bathing suits and let them play (get soaked) at nickelodean's splash zone for an hour or two. I lost my voice this day (I still have not got it back :>() This night we went to bed early about 11:00pm. Sunday Morning we woke up and was at the park on opening. We got a lot done in the morning again using ridemax! I LOVE RIDEMAX! We went to goofy's kitchen for lunch and then my mom took glitter princess (DD) back to hotel for a much needed nap! That evening we went on Soarin again and grizzly run. The girls and children headed over for parade / fireworks while the guys went to espn zone. we then met up and watched fantasmic. Had a perfect view by standing in the back :>) We then went on some more rides and went to hotel after park closed. Well we had done all attractions we wanted in the 2 days! Hubby wanted to sleep in a little next morning. Monday monring glitter princess, my sister and I got up to take advantage of our early entry passes. The other 7 in our party slept in. We got there at 7:45am (park opens at 9am) We walked right onto space mountain first, then we did, matterhorn, dumbo, alice, tea cups, peterpan, mr toad, carousel, and snowwhite and finished these at 9:05, we then walked over to splash mountain and rode it twice with ZERO wait! I asked the glitter princess what she wanted to do and she said soarin and grizzly run (we had done bother 3 times each by this point) LOL so we headed out to California adventure and got a call from hubby he just entered the park. so he waited for us and we all went over there. we rode soarin 2 more times, and grizzly 3 more times !!! we brought ponchos with us (2 for $1 at dollar store!) thank goodness as the glitter princess(daughter) is addicted to water rides! Highlights of the trip: of couse Disneyland was number #1 but thats a given club libby lu for glitter princess ariels grotto lunch goofy's kitchen for lunch hotel was great! (Hampton Inn - Garden Grove) Things we brought that were lifesavers (and or moneysavers)!: ponchos glow sticks (2 for a dollar at dollar store) fruit snacks, krispy squares, granola bars, juice boxes WATER! We bought 24 water! Drank em all! we froze them in our mini fridge at night! bathing suit / flip flops to parks (let glitter princess play in puddle parks - was not wet after) Purchased princess costumes from www.disneydirect.com and brought them with us! bandaids (blisters) Our trip was AMAZING and magical!
Originally Posted By melekalikimaka <<Well my daughters favorite princess is Ariel (we have EVERYTHING ariel) and when she came up to our table our glitter princess was lost for words, and had tears of joy and just kept saying "I can't beleive your here" >> Aw, that brought tears to my eyes. I'm so glad that you had a fabulous time. What a wonderful "get well" present.
Originally Posted By macnak81 Just returned from a week at The Caribbean resort. 10/5-10/11,For October the place was at 99% capacity. Lines for food were long. Pools were crowded. and the busses were awful. We had to wait 90 mins for a bus from the MK to the Resort Saturday night. My party split up and some left at 9pm right after fireworks, we stuck around for the 10pm spsectromagic parade. We both had 90 min. waits for Buses. Earlier that day I spoke to a CM with a clip board at the resort bus stop just questioning what he was doing and voicing my concern of the long 30 min waits ( they are scheduled every 15-20 min) He told me they were trying a new system and were thinking of testing GPS on the busses. Monorails were down for 35 mins too! at 9pm trying to get from EPCOT to the MK , we had a terrible experience when the doors closed on my arm, holding it for my sister and niece. The CM said I cant hold the door. I explained, the other 2 were with me, and she tried to hold the door open with her foot, but it still forced itself closed. No attempt for safety there! Evidently they weren't doing anything that night because there were 15 busses lined up on the road in front of the Contemporary resort , while we were standing in line for 1 1/2 hours. It was hot, muggy and everyone was tired and cranky. Be careful. Do not rely on the buses to get you anyplace on time especially for reservations, fireworks, parades or anything scheduled. The CM told me to Plan on 45 mins minimum for our 9 am tour to the Keys of the Kingdom, and that was before the park opened! While staying on property from inside Disney property that is awful. And as mentioned in other posts , this was while the free dinning plan was still in effect ( we didn't book in time to receive it) but it made every restaurant overbooked and very crowded. We learned to pack snacks and eat at off times. Get fast passes,and use child switch offs as much as possible to beat the crowds. It does take a way from the Magic
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 I'm so glad that things went well for you (after all your planning Nice idea to include money saving tips at the end of your report
