Originally Posted By Dalia3001 I just got back from a wonderful trip to Disneyland that I would be happy to tell you all about. I went to DL with my fiance who had never been before. We stayed at the Disneyland hotel, and I sprung for concierge level. I had wanted to stay at the Grand Californian, but it was booked, so I got the concierge level because was available for the stay 3 nights get the fourth night free deal. This was more expensive than what I would have wanted, but I really wanted my fiance to enjoy himself and I felt that we needed a very convenient and sort of upscale hotel environment in order to be able to deal well with being around so many people in a day. We are both a bit reclusive. So I made the reservations, and with lots of help from people on these boards and Vacation Planning, reservations for the Fantasmic Balcony at 10:30 Friday night, Priority Seating at the Carnation Cafe for Thursday at 10:50 am, and Priority Seating for the counter where you can see the kitchen at Napa Rose for Wed evening at 6:00. I bought Ridemax, which I have loved using in the past, and came up with a basic schedule. We drove up from Northern California on Tuesday morning, arriving around 2. I had packed a nice picnic lunch and had hoped to stop at that lake on the Grapevine overpass to eat overlooking the lake at the visitors center. Unfortunately, the center and it's parking lot were closed, so we had a nice picnic in the shade of a palm tree at a big strip mall at the base of the hill. Not the perfect location, but a nice way to make the best of things; we had fun. Our room was ready for us when we arrived at around 2:00. It was a corner room on the 11th floor of the Sierra Tower, quite small but extremely nice, with a whole wall of windows that you could open up to the fresh air and a view of Downtown Disney and the two resorts. I am a little nuts, so I immediately cleaned the room with Lysol wipes and spray Lysol, but it looked pretty darn clean before I started, I must say. Though I did find two long hairs that were not mine in the bathtub. We had brought some snacks, which was good, because the snacks available in the concierge lounge at that time were sort of minimal, chips and salsa, cookies and brownies and fruit. We rested in the room for a while, then headed to Disneyland at around 4. I didn't have much planned for us that evening, we were supposed to arrive at 5 and get a FP for Splash Mountain according to our RideMax plan. We got into the park early, as I said, at around 20 to 4, I think. Thinking that we had some extra time, we went to the opera house and watched the 50th Celebration Movie with Steve Martin. I enjoyed it a great deal, and I also really enjoyed the display in the waiting room! It was filled with beautiful and interesting stuff, I had a great time telling my fiance about my memories of America Sings, and Country Bear Jamboree. We then headed over to Splash Mountain. I noticed that the park was pretty crowded, but thought maybe that was par for the course for a weekday evening during the 50th celebration. I took my fiance through Adventureland to get to Splash Mountain, and was a bit taken aback by the wall to wall crowds, but I did notice that there were still FPs left for Indiana Jones. When we got to Splash Mountain, unfortunately, all the FPs were gone. I took my fiance (I will call him G from now on, OK?) back through crowded Adventureland, and we got our FP with no problem. We then went back to our Ridemax plan, and visited the Tiki Room, the Jungle Cruise, Pirates, and Big Thunder Mountain Railroad. We loved it all, I had never been in the Tiki room before, the updates to the Jungle Cruise were great, and we had a fantastic skipper, Pirates was as fun as I remembered, Big Thunder was a blast, and G LOVED Indiana when we used our Fastpasses to ride it. It seemed to me that our FP's did not offer too much of an advantage on that ride at the time we rode it. The wait was only 15 mins or something like that standby, and it took maybe 8 or 10 with the FP. I guess it would be more of a help if the line had been longer. We then returned to the room. I had made plans with Vacation Planning months earlier to have something called a champagne turndown service while we were out. This was supposed to include champagne, two chocolate covered strawberries, and rose petals on a turned down bed. It cost 40$, or something like that. I had specified that I wanted these things delivered before 8, wanting to be able to surprise G. Well, I was very dissapointed to find none of these things done when we returned at 8:20. I called down to Guest Services, and was told it was a Room Service issue. They were a bit angry and said I should have given them a wider time range to arrive in, I guess we had a miscommunication, they thought I said at 8, I thought I said anytime before 8. Oh well. They said it should be there within half an hour. I took G down to the Lost Bar to wait, we had a drink and it was nice, just not what I had hoped for. We came back up around 9, and there was a bottle of champagne with chocolate covering it (weird but cute) but no strawberries and no turndown service. About half an hour later a lady came by with some cookies and chocolates and offered a turndown service. I declined the turn down, at that point we were already in bed, but happily took the cookies and chocolate!! I called the next day to discuss this with Guest Services and then Room Service, and they said they would send up the strawberries at no charge another night if I would like. I requested them for Thursday night, and we saved the champagne to enjoy with them. This had been a wonderful day overall, I was happy and ready to head to bed. The next day, we went to DCA. We visited the Grand Californian in the morning, after breakfast in the DL Hotel concierge lounge. Loved the lobby and sat by the fireplace for a while listening to voicemail and relaxing. At 9:30 we entered DCA through the Grand Californian entrance, and rode Soarin' over California before the park opened. We walked right on, and were on the first ride of the day, thanks to info learned on these boards!! We waited for the park to open at 10, then followed our Ridemax plan. First we rode Mulholland Madness twice in a row, with no line at all, just walked on and could have stayed on instead of walking around if we had been smart enough to ask like the people behind us! Then we strolled over to the Malliboomer. G had never seen this ride in operation, and there were not enough people there yet for there to be any line, so we did not see it running before we rode. I was psyched for G, I knew he would have no idea that we were about to rocket into the air, then plummet right back down, hee hee. I was scared to death myself; even though I like the ride it scares me a ton! He was completely suprised by it, but I felt badly, because he was so shocked and unprepared that he banged his hand a bit on the face plate and was bruised a little. Ooops. But I still think it was cool for him to ride it with no expectations. We were meant to ride the Orange Stinger next, but it was closed until 11:00. We headed over to Grizzly River Run, and rented a free locker to store our stuff. We took out our giant garbage bags with head holes cut out in them, a tip I got a few years ago on these boards that I LOVE using! Just stick the bag over your head and your head through the hole and you won't get soaked. I brought an extra bag for G to sit on as he is tall, but mine reaches down to my knees. We got some weird looks and comments, but the completely wet people on the tube with us ended up wishing they had garbage bags too. Then we passed them on to a dad and his son who were getting on after us, the dad looked so happy, it was awesome! Next we went over to TOT, picking up a FP for Soaring on the way. We waited for TOT standby, about 10 minutes. I LOVED that ride! I was screaming and laughing hysterically the whole time. I have never been so taken by suprise by a ride; at one point I had no idea whether we were going up or down, it was FANTASTIC. The CM who loaded us onto the ride was great too. I was told to stand in row 6, and I asked him which row was the front, with my friendliest smile. He looked very grim and told me I was to wait in row 6. I was a little taken aback until he loaded us, then I realised that his grim response was part of his character, and that row 6 was the front!! He handled the conversation so well, it really added to the "show!" After leaving the ride, yes we bought the photo, I'm a sucker, I noticed that people were lining up for the Alladin show, and we were feeling like we needed a bit of a rest, so instead of continuing to follow our ridemax plan, we waited for the Alladin show to start, using our WDTC priority seating tabs. Great seats, and an AMAZING show. I was blown away. I was very impressed by the caliber of the performers, the Carpet was a doll, I adored her, the Genie was hysterical, and the whole cast was entertaining and a lot of fun to watch. The production was spectacular, great special effects, costumes, sets, music, I loved it. We were in a great mood, but getting a little worn out. I really wanted to ride TOT again, but G was getting worn down and we had 6:00 reservations at Napa Rose for which we wanted to save some energy. We watched It's Tough to be a Bug (enjoyed it thoroughly) and used our FP to ride Soarin again, then headed back to the hotel to rest for the evening. We headed over to Napa Rose for our 6:00 Priority Seating. I had requested the seating at the counter, to be able to see the open kitchen. G and I are big fans of Iron Chef and Iron Chef America, and he loves eating at fancy restaurants that serve cutting edge food. He is also very knowlegable aobut wine. We have eaten at quite a few restaurants with wonderful reputations, ordering the chef's "tasting menu" with the wine pairing on several occaisions. Most of these restaurants have been more expensive than Napa Rose. I felt (with advice from you guys) that sitting at the counter would make this a special dinner, setting it a bit apart from the other dining experiences he has shared with me. To be honest, I was a little worried that the food at a Disney resort might not live up to his expectations. I was so wrong. The service was impeccable, my wine and water glass refilled themselves magically. By this I mean that a couple of times neither of us noticed the waitperson refilling my glass. The food was the best either of us have ever eaten. The wine pairing was excellent, and the wines some of the tastiest I have ever tried. I don't pretend to be any sort of an expert, but I have tried a lot of wine that has been picked for me by experts. The wines chosen for me at Napa Rose were all spectacular, and went perfectly with my food. G agreed that all my wine choices were excellent. His were equally excellent, but more suited to his more refined palate, more complex. We both like what was chosen for each other, but prefered what we had been served. And the exact same thing happened with the food!! It was an amazing dinner, the best date of my life. I will never forget it. The sous chefs both came and talked with us, we loved watching everyone cook, it was awesome. I was quite tipsy when we left, but not in the least bit hungover or sick in the morning. I generaly don't do so well with rich food, but I was absolutely fine. I can't say enough good things about Napa Rose. We loved it. Next morning, Early Entry. We were up and out early enough to line up at the entry gates at 7:40, which seemed pretty early, but it was fun. First thing we did was head to Space Mountain. Remember how positive I was about Napa Rose? Just add a bunch of exclamation points and capital letters to my superlatives. What a great ride!! They took my favorite ride and made it even better!!!! Wow. It ruled. Then we went on Buzz, which G loved. I had printed out the page from these boards with the tips on what to shoot and how to play, so he did quite well, even his first time. I didn't do that well, but I had fun. Next the Matterhorn, with barely a wait, then the park opened and we began to follow our Ridemax plan for the day. This went fairly well, allthough the FPs all started going faster than our plan anticipated, so we had to adjust a bit. We still managed to ride Space Mountain again, with a FP, BTMRR twice in a row, without even leaving the loading area, Splash Mountain with FP and garbage bags, Winnie the Pooh and Innoventions. We were dead tired when we got back to the room, but managed to come back later and ride Haunted Mansion Holiday (hooray! I had never seen the overlay and loved it) and Space Mountain twice in a row with FPs from the morning. We also had brunch at the Carnation Cafe that morning, with PS. Great service and decent food. We went to Carnation Cafe after reading about it on the Disney Dining thread, we wanted to try food by chef Oscar! Great pototoes and sausages, and an excellent wait staff! When we got back to the room that night, 4 strawberries were there, looking gorgeous on a pretty plate and table setting. They were sent free of charge because of the mixup the night before. I forgot to mention that I had been tipping housekeeping and roomservice quite a bit each day, and I don't know if that was the reason but we did get very good service from both after the mix up the first night. There were still no rose petals, but I've never thought that petals and sheets would go that well together anyway. We drank the very good champagne, or sparkling wine, whatever, and enjoyed the lovely chocolate and strawberries. It was very romantic and special. The next morning we went back to DL armed with our ridemax plan. This was friday morning, and the place was PACKED by 10:30 am. We started out ok, we were the first people on Mr. Toads, great fun. Then we headed to Peter Pan, and I could just tell the line was more like at least 20 mins rather that the 10 alloted by my plan. So instead of jeaprodizing the rest of our morning, we rode Alice with no wait, then Small World in our own boat. Lovely. Then got a Buzz Lightyear FP, then rode Buzz, first stanby, then with FP. G did very well again, he loves that ride. Then we got a Space Mountain FP, and decided we should abandon our plan and head over to DCA. Disneyland was just too crowded at 10:30 for us to be able to deal with the thought of what it would be like at 2. So we headed across the esplanade, and I got to ride TOT again!! I loved it again, was even more scared this time. Then we had lunch at the Wine Country Trattoria, or whatever it's called, which was very nice. Good soup and salad. We went to the Seasons of the Vine presentation, which we enjoyes. Then we decided to head back to our room, we were pretty worn out and were worried about braving the crowds for the fireworks later. As we were leaving, I noticed that the sign said no attractions were closed that day. I asked if the roller coaster was open, IT WAS!! I was so psyched. I made poor G walk all the way back to Paradise Pier with me to pick up a FP. Then we went back to the room and rested. We came back around 6:30 to ride California Screaming. It was dusk, and DCA looked really pretty with the lights coming up and the sun setting behind the lagoon. California Screaming rocked, G says it was his favorite ride!! We then caught Orange Stinger on the way out to Disneyland. The lines to reenter DL were pretty long. I was really nervous about the crowds, probably too nervous. We basicly killed time till our 10:30 Fantasmic Balcony reservations, avoiding the hub and the fireworks, probably a mistake, but we had been told we might not make it to the Balcony in time after because of the crowd by the concierge staff, and we didn't want to risk it. We rode a full circle on the train, nice at night, and got a FP and rode Haunted Mansion. Then it was time for Fantasmic, a great view, but I was a little too worn out to fully enjoy it. The next morning, today, we woke up, checked out and drove home. All and all, just about the best little vacation ever. We had a fantastic time. Sorry if I sound a little nitpciky, I am just trying to help anyone else who is planning and shares my same troubles in dealing with crowds!! Thanks all for the planning help!!!!
Originally Posted By Ursula What a lovely and articulate trip report! I am so glad that Disney made nice on your tiny snafu. My husband and I had the in-room strawberries the night of our wedding and it was delicious. Thank you for writing such a great report! I know it will help others in planning their trips.
Originally Posted By amazedncal2 We have had a corner room in the Sierra a couple of times and loved the view, I do agree that the room is small What a great report and yippee you got to ride on California Screamin at dusk with all the lights, gotta love that view too Thank you for sharing your special time.
Originally Posted By Captainess Wow, chocolate covered champagne sounds good! Glad everything worked out and you both enjoyed yourselves. Great job putting your fiance on the Maliboomer without telling him that it shoots up LoL!!!
Originally Posted By 5formickey What a nice report. I haven't had real good luck with things being delivered like they were promised either, although I have had other experiences with Vacation Planning that were awesome. It kind of puts a damper on it when you have to call and complain, but good for you that you didn't let it ruin your "romance".
Originally Posted By Dalia3001 It wasn't a big deal. I mentioned it for the most part to let people know they should be sure to ask to have stuff (non-perishable stuff, I guess) delivered with a good half/hour or so to spare before you plan on returning if you want to suprise someone. I would say, tell them 7:00 to 7:30 if you plan on getting back to the room at 8:30.
Originally Posted By Dalia3001 thanks to all for your comments! very kind of you to take the time to respond.
Originally Posted By BetsyELG Really enjoyed your trip report. We are going in March. Did you find RideMax worth the money? I am thinking about buying it. Do you recommend it? Betsy
Originally Posted By Dalia3001 I did like having ridemax, allthough it wasn't as helpful for this trip as it has been for me in the past. I have used it twice previously, once on a summer weekend, and once in march or april on a weekday. Both times it worked perfectly. This trip their estimated wait times and fastpass return times were off to the point that i couldn't really use the system as i had planned to. However, I understand how the fastpass system works and was able to adjust my plans, still using the ridemax schedule as a general guide. I think that the week I went 10/11-10/14 was suprisingly crowded, and that nobody, Ridemax included, anticipated the huge crowds that were there. I will still order Ridemax again for my next trip.
