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[vampira]

Hi everyone!
This week, me, my brother and my husband went to Disneyland for 3 days. We had a wonderful time, but unfortunately also some bad luck...
We came back Wednesday evening and I had to work the next day, so I haven't found the time yet to upload some pictures, but if you are interested in our trip report, you'll find it right here in a few days. 

[seraphelle]

I hope the bad luck was nothing too awful xx looking forward to your trip report, we go Tuesday! Xx

[vampira]

Thank you Seraphelle, it wasn't too bad, but it wasn't really what we had wished for either.  I hope you will have a wonderful trip!

So, let's begin this trip report.
On Monday, we had planned to get up early. I had set the alarm on my phone as I always do. As usual, I couldn't sleep at all, so I didn't really need the alarm, which turned out to be a good thing, since I hadn't used the correct charger so my phone died at 3:45AM.  I had to get out of bed to get another charger and decided to stay awake, since I couldn't sleep anyway. I made breakfast, packed the last things and woke my husband. We had to pick up my brother first, and after saying goodbye to my mother, we left for Disneyland at 6:00AM, exactly like we had planned.
So far so good! Things got bad when we drove through Belgium. There was a lot of traffic and it delayed us about an hour and a half. But that wasn't the worst. In the middle of all that traffic, our car started to make weird sounds and it didn't accelerate anymore. So when the road was finally clear again, we had to stop at a gas station/restaurant/shop to find out what was wrong. In the meantime, we got something to eat and got some rest. Unfortunately the car really didn't work anymore, so we had to call for someone to fix it. After waiting another hour, he couldn't fix the car and (we thought) he was going to take us to a garage. But he drove away very fast and left us in the middle of nowhere... Finally we found a garage, but they weren't able to help us. They did give us the number and address of someone else who might be able to help us. Our car made it there (barely!), and they did fix the car! Finally, we were able to drive again!
At 15:00PM we arrived at the hotel (4,5 hours later than we had planned!), where we went to our room to freshen up. When we were ready, we left for the parks and finally got in! (As you can see, I was very happy!  )



We had made reservations at the Agrabah Café, but we had a little time left  before dinner so after taking some pictures at Main Street we went to Adventureland and had a look at some of the shops and at "Le Passage Enchanté d'Aladdin". We were really hungry so we went to the restaurant to see if they would let us in a little earlier. When we got there, they told us they didn't see any reservation, but since there weren't too many people inside, we could still eat there. Dinner was as wonderful as I remembered, or maybe even better! (And yes, I am a little crazy, but I was also very hungry. That's why this is such a funny picture.  )



After our dinner, we explored the rest of Adventureland. We went on PotC first and we really liked it! Then, we went on Indiana Jones twice, because there was nobody waiting anyway.





We walked on to Frontierland, where we went on Phantom Manor, explored the surroundings and of course Boot Hill. It was almost completely dark by the time we got there, so the atmosphere was definitely creepy enough! 





We walked to Discoveryland and for the first time, I really saw how beautiful it is in the dark, with all the lights on. We rode Space Mountain first and then walked through the Nautilus, because we wanted to do something calm after being shaken in Space Mountain. Finally, we went on Buzz Lightyear before going to see Disney Dreams. (Ofcourse I won!  ).



We walked back to Main Street and found a nice spot to watch Disney Dreams. My brother kept asking what it was like, and I told him he should just look and that he wouldn't be disappointed. Afterwards he told me he really liked it (well, who doesn't!?).







After Disney Dreams, everybody was leaving the park so it took some time for us to walk over to Disney Village. We checked out some of the shops, but went back to the hotel quite early, because we were all very tired!

Day 2 will follow as soon as possible. 

[msRavenswood]

Despite the fact your trip started with a little bad luck the magic of Disney made it up to you! Lovely trip report so far, can't wait to read the rest of the installments!

[RockNRoller]

Love those night shots, especially the one of the Molly Brown, hope there are more to come

[seraphelle]

Oh my goodness, I'm so glad your car got fixed so quick. I'd have been a nervous wreck! Lovely photos xx

[vampira]

Thanks everyone, my husband took most of the pictures. I really love the one with the Molly Brown too.
I'll try to write/post some more later today. 

[vampira]

Hmm, I didn't have enough time to write the rest of our trip report yesterday, but here we go!

Day 2:

We got up early today to have breakfast at the hotel. I had read that some people complained about the breakfast at the Explorers hotel, but we had enough things to choose from and it tasted good. After breakfast, we walked through the hotel, checked out the little shop and took some pictures. Then we went back to our room to get ready.



We took the shuttle bus to the parks. I almost couldn't believe how many people were waiting for the shuttle already. I even heard someone yell "push!" to her children. Really? Is it that hard to wait a little bit to get in? 
Anyway, we got to the parks a little before opening time, but we were allowed into the Studio's immediately, so we went straight for Ratatouille. There was already a queue, even for the fastpass tickets! The single riders line was almost completely empty so we decided to ride as singles and we got in in 5 minutes! I got lucky somehow and got to sit next to my brother, because apparently there were no couples waiting in line. A little weird, but we didn't complain!  When we got out and met with my husband again, we all agreed it was an amazing, beautiful ride and we rode it again (we used the single riders line again, so we dit the ride twice in less than half an hour!). We were a little stupid, and forgot to take any pictures of La place de Rémy.
After the Ratatouille ride, I wanted to show my brother my favorite attraction, the Tower of Terror! My husband really doesn't like it, so he went for a walk around the Studio's while we waited in line. As always, I loved the ride. My brother was a little nervous while waiting, but he liked it.





When we came out of the ride, my husband was waiting for us in the little shop at the exit and he had bought me and my brother a magnet that said: "Tower of Terror, I survived"  We walked to tram tours. I don't really like tram tours, but my brother wanted to see it so we went in. We had to wait quite some time. Apparently some of the cars weren't working properly. After the ride, we had a look at the lines in Toy Story Playland. I would like to ride RC Racer sometime, but we were already pretty cold and hungry, so we decided to get something to eat. We just wanted something small, because we were going to eat at Plaza Gardens that evening and I didn't want to eat too much for lunch.



While walking back to Disneyland, we took some more pictures at the entrance of the Studio's and the Entrance of Disneyland. We didn't get the chance to do this the day before because we were too tired, hungry and eager to get in the park! We then went to City Hall, to see if our reservation for Plaza Gardens was made correctly, unlike the day before. Turned out, they had switched the restaurants, so we had a reservation for Agrabah Café again. Although I love the food at the Agrabah Café. we wanted to try out the Plaza Gardens buffet too, so we asked if it was possible to make a new reservation. We were lucky, we could still eat there that evening, but a little later than we had hoped for. So we decided to eat a bigger lunch, so we wouldn't go hungry again before dinner.
We got our lunch at the Market House Deli. All the tables inside were taken, so we sat outside. Bad timing! It started raining almost at the moment we sat down! So we had to eat quickly, and went on our way. While walking towards the castle, the rain got worse! Also, the wind was blowing hard, so we had to stay at Main Street (were we had some shelter) to wait for the storm to pass. Luckily, it didn't take very long.
I can't remember exactly where we went after the storm. I know we went to Fantasyland first. We went on all the dark rides (Peter Pan, Pinocchio and Snow White) and had a look at the surroundings and the Halloween Decorations. We also went to the labyrinth and on It's a small world.













Later, we went to Frontierland. It had been raining on and off that day, maybe that was the reason the waiting time for Big thunder mountain was only 30 minutes! We went on it and I loved it, especially since we didn't get to ride it on our last visit. We also took some pictures in Frontierland, before walking back to Main Street.







We were already a bit hungry by then, but we still had time before dinner, so we tried to go on Star Tours. It said the waiting time was 40 minutes, but we had been waiting for 30 minutes and we weren't even halfway so we had to get out again and walk to the Plaza Gardens. We had to wait in line some time, so it didn't matter we got there a little early. When we were finally led to a table, we went to get some food immediately. To be honest, it wasn't as good as I had expected after reading a lot of positive reviews, but it wasn't bad either. Our table was next to the exit, so it wasn't very comfortable. Every time someone left the restaurant, we got really cold. But since the restaurant was very busy, we couldn't sit at another table. So we didn't enjoy our dinner as much as the first day, but it was good enough. 



After dinner, it was almost time for Disney Dreams. We wanted to see it again, but it was already crowded outside, we were very cold and we decided to go to Disney Village and then to the hotel.

[DisneyManiac]

I remember the storm! Heck, I was there! We were queueing up for Big Thunder Mountain, for sometime about an hour. I was getting worried while waiting for our mine train to arrive, it was still raining a bit, but the heavens opened and the rain stopped! Just as the mine train arrived! It might be because of the rain but the trains were faster than normal and that night when I took a walk out from Plaza Gardens-Hey! didn't we eat at the same place on the same night??? Anywho when I took a walk to Frontierland and visited Boot Hill, I heard a voice coming from Big Thunder Mountain, I realised it was the Breakdown Spiel! The one that goes "Howdy Folks! There appears to be a slow-movin' train ahead, it looks like we are gonna have to stick here for awhile. But hang around, we'll be right with ya!" Later on when I was with the rest of my party, I noticed and pointed out that the mine trains had stopped and the maintenance lights were on. It was a bit of a bummer as I wanted to ride Big Thunder Mountain at night time and I couldn't!

[vampira]

Yes, that storm was really bad! I'm glad you got to ride BTM before it stopped.
And yes, seems like we both were at the same restaurant that evening. 

[vampira]

It's time for the third and last part of my trip report...

On our last day, we got up early again and had another lovely breakfast, before checking out and getting on the shuttle to the Walt Disney Studio's. We got in even earlier than the day before. This time, we went to Crush's coaster first. There was already a long line, but the ride wasn't open yet, so we decided to wait in line. When the line started moving, it only took about 20 minutes before we were in a turtle shell. My husband and I had been on this ride last year, but my brother didn't really know what to expect. He liked it anyway.
After riding Crush's coaster, we went on Armageddon. Not really one of my favorite attractions, but the cast member working there was great so I enjoyed it anyway.
When we got out of Armageddon we went to Aerosmith Rock'n Roller coaster. Like last year, no music in the ride. This really spoiled it for me. I love roller coasters and I used to love this one. But it's just not the same without music... 
Later, we took some pictures in the Studio's and went back to Disneyland.







We were just in time for the Halloween cavalcade, so we got a good spot to watch it all. I loved it! The bright colors, the happy looking characters and dancers and even the song (although I couldn't get it out of my head for the rest of the day!)









When the cavalcade was finished, we went to Adventure land. We took some pictures at the castle (we almost forgot about that, and a Disneyland-trip isn't complete without at least one picture in front of the castle!  ). In Adventureland, we went to the Robinsons tree house. We also wanted to ride Indiana Jones again, but for some reason it was closed, so we went back to the castle to check out the dragon once more.







Then, we went to check out the shops. My husband bought 2 shot-glasses with Mickey and Minnie Mouse. We decided to go to Disney Village to get something to eat and go back home. 
We had a late (and very big!) lunch at the Rainforest café. We all had a fixed menu with main and dessert and it was very good! It was also very big. I didn't have to eat again the rest of the day!  After our big lunch, we went to the shops to buy some gifts for family. I also got a pumpkin spice latte at the Starbucks at Disney Village, I wanted to try it since I heard about it and it was delicious!





Finally, we went back to the hotel to get our car. When we got to our car, we found out we had left the radio in the car, so our car wouldn't start! We had to get back into the hotel to find someone to start our car. Fortunately we were helped very fast and we could finally go back home. Not that I really wanted to go home...

And now, I feel a little sad because the trip is already over, and because it didn't go as planned. Although we had a great time, some of those little problems made the trip less "magical". But isn't that a good reason to plan a new trip as soon as possible? 

[RockNRoller]

And now, I feel a little sad because the trip is already over, and because it didn't go as planned. Although we had a great time, some of those little problems made the trip less "magical". But isn't that a good reason to plan a new trip as soon as possible? 

Oh definitely I suggest another trip to get over the disappointment of the little problems. Were going back this year because last year we lost 5 minutes as I lost my camera down the back of the bed and had to waste time moving furniture around.
Any excuse eh

[vampira]

We don't make excuses, it's just necessary to go back again and again! 
I've already been looking at the offers, now I need to convince my husband... 

[ilovemainstxxx]

really enjoyed your report, looks like you had a good time even with your little problems.....
we had one of your problems one year , our battery went flat , me and my daughter had to push the car on the disneyland hotel car park...i was so embarrassed...... haha....
love your pic of the molly brown 
my sister has gone today and i am so jealous  really wish i was there with her , we only went in july but i NEED to go back and keep looking at prices all the time ....so reading reports gets me through the really wanting to go phase ..

[Uragano Tati]

Great trip report and great pictures! Thanx for sharing!
Even your car didn't want to leave Disneyland so you really need to book soon another holiday!!  Well, everybody need that, eheheh!!!