Hot Fun in the Summertime-TCD's August 2012 TR

[CKCK 45]

I'm supa excited about the hopeful restoration of the calliope.

I wished I had been there to see them get it out of that room.

Although now I have to figure out how to explain to the little red heads why the calliope can still play when you press the button even though it isn't there. Awesome.

[DaveInTN 3,247]

Although now I have to figure out how to explain to the little red heads why the calliope can still play hen you press the button even though it sent there. Awesome.

The magic of Disney.

[YodaGirl 13]

Awesome trip report, as usual!

Cool pic of Yoda even if it was 3D. :)

[Katman1356...Jason 1,140]

My only regret is I flew in at night, and flew out at night, so didn't really get the realization of flying over the Rockies and really realizing where in the country I actually was. I also took a shuttle straight to the Anaheim area, and straight back to LAX. Someday, even though the campground isn't the best I will pull the camper out there just to see the country in between!!

I was fortunate enough last summer to go to Disneyland in just this way. The country in between is awesome. I am even more fortunate in that this was the second time I have been able to do this. It was just as awe inspiring the second time. I hope for many more. Maybe I will do a mostly pic trip report. We hit National Parks and Monuments, Disneyland, and other things like giant Pistachios.

[LONE-STAR 370]

Your barn photos were really good. Almost felt like I was there. I am so ready to be back at the fort.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I also enjoyed the barn photos. That is my favorite area of the Fort...in particular I love the blacksmith shop. So authentic. It makes me very sad to think of it being torn down.

Maybe now that my Melvin freeing days are over, I will take up a new cause. Occupy the Blacksmith Shop. I will chain myself to it.

make sure to have anna with you....

"So, you wanna tear down the blacksmith shop, eh?"

I am glad to hear this!

I will be sure to come and visit you and Anna while you are protesting.

Disney will have to give up eventually, right?

I know some fiends will think different than I do, but we all like telling our opinions here. I think all this junk is ridiculous . We are camping here folks not cleaning out our garages. Even though I think some of the holiday stuff is too much, I understand its all good and people enjoy. I'm all for adding a special touch to your site, but bringing junk should not be allowed. I know, one mans junk is another mans treasure but seriously? Hate me and yell at me but I think the permanent site on loop 700 is out of hand also. It makes the fort look like we are all trailer trash even if you do have a 100k trailer on the pad. I always just turn my head when I see that crap because it will never change or be enforced. What happened to the great outdoors? If I wanted to camp next to junk I would camp in front of one my friends house where his neighbor has the lawn and lawn junk from hell. And to boot, he would not charge me $75 a night. Put all the long term campers on the 2000 loop so it's far from the ambiance of the fort. And we wonder why the fort management doesn't care about us.

Dave- I like the decorations around the holidays. Even the jumble of stuff that these folks put out. But, I agree with you about the other times of the year. I prefer not to see junky sites. What I really don't get is why anyone would want to haul all this stuff and set it out in the first place. Why? Do they really need 20 birdhouses and a lighthouse collection to boot?

Carol,

We were surprised too!! We had been there in 2009 and while the lines were not nearly as long as WDW, there were lines. This trip was almost shocking at the lack of lines. I am sure there had to have been a wait for TSM in the afternoon, but we were never there at that time........our longest wait by far was riding the new Radiator Racers with Fast Passes.....even with the passes we waited a good 20-minutes. That area was packed! Heidi

TCD,

Thanks for mentioning that book, I'll have to check it out.

I'll let you know when I am ready......at the moment I am dealing with jet lag, and just plain exhaustion after being on the road for three weeks. We put on a little over 2.800 miles on our rental van!!! It was quite a trip! I'll do the trip report when things settle down this Fall.

Disneyland is both similar to WDW and different........if that makes sense!

Like I said lines were almost non existant.........saw tons of character with no handlers with them......no finger scan to get into the parks........seemed like more live entertainment going on.........they have the Golden Horseshoe which is the same as our Diamond Horseshoe and they actually USE it to put on really great shows.......their Fast Passes can be used anytime after the first hour on the one hour window. There is something special about being in the original park, where Walt actually spent time.

I hope that you get to go someday........you would love it.........for those of us who have grown up going to WDW or have gone to WDW multiple times that is our favorite park, but Disneyland is a lot of fun too!!!!

Heidi

We had the chance to go to Disneyland last summer for the first time and I have to agree it was a lot of fun. We had a bit more in the way of lines but the new Little Mermaid ride had just opened, The Soundsational Parade (best parade ever in my opinion) had just started running and the World of Color show(One of the best shows we have seen aslso) was fairly new. This really drove up the crowds and the locals passes were good too at the time.

For anyone who hasn't gone yet it is a real treat. It does kind of mess with your head because rides are not "in the right places" so to speak but you can't beat how much less walking you have to do.

Yeah, and the fact that you can walk out of the park and to your inexpensive off-site hotel and be there 15 minutes after fireworks is over, is a plus, and there is "true" parkhopping, you just walk across the "Esplanade"

Unfortunately though, no awesome campground!! About a mile away is a striped parking lot with electric and water hookups they try and call a campground.

I think we might have stayed in that one back in 2002 during a 10 week road trip to the west

Wow.

All of this sounds great (expept for the campground).

I have heard that the Disneyland experience is far different from the Disney World experience. I sure would love to experience all of this with my daughters, so we can all compare the differences. I'm going to have to give this some serious thought.

Saw this today and thought of your attempts at making the face.

I hadn't seen that one.

That's pretty good!

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Wow! That site is very packed! How do they bring all that in, I wonder? I love the last set of pics you posted of the sunset over the barn! Gorgeous!

That's what I was thinking, but the bigger question is WHY?

Considering they have a full sized fridge along with all that other merchandise, It must be quite a production to get all of that stuff there.

I'm with you Gwen, I really would like to know WHY?

So true Carol! We stayed at the Park Vue Inn and were literally on the other side of the crosswalk on Harbor. I figure from the end of Main Street to our hotel is about the same distance as if you are at WDW to go from the end of Main Street to the last bus stop at the Magic Kingdom....usually the Pop bus stop. Its crazy how fast we could get back to our hotel from the parks.

And Yes, it was super fun to just exit Disneyland, walk a few steps and walk into Disney California Adventure. Although, we really didnt need Fast Passes on this trip, what we would do is grab a FP at Disneyland, exit the park, run into the California Adventure, grab another one there (the FP system is not connected between parks) and head back to the hotel for a swim.

I love, love, love WDW, but I cant say enough positive things about Disneyland!!!

Heidi

Wow. I didn't know that "off-site" hotels were so close. I always assumed that we would stay in one of the Disney resorts. Since there aren't many choices, the prices on these are high.

As I said, I may be looking into this.

Does anyone know if they have something like Magical Express there?

I was a little further, I was at the Super 8 on Katella, BUT within spitting distance of my hotel was a PF Changs, California Pizza Kitchen, Bubba Gumps, and a couple of other WONDERFUL restaurants. There were also reasonably priced convenience stores in the walking area, I could get soft drinks and a Tylenol without paying a fortune! It is not a total escape, like WDW, but it has it's own charm. I spent 5 days there and really got to explore both parks thoroughly. I probably spent 3 days riding attractions, and the last two days, I made sure to watch all the live entertainment. It was an awesome experience!!

My only regret is I flew in at night, and flew out at night, so didn't really get the realization of flying over the Rockies and really realizing where in the country I actually was. I also took a shuttle straight to the Anaheim area, and straight back to LAX. Someday, even though the campground isn't the best I will pull the camper out there just to see the country in between!!

Good to know about all of the eating options. Not like Disney World at all.

I'm supa excited about the hopeful restoration of the calliope.

I wished I had been there to see them get it out of that room.

Although now I have to figure out how to explain to the little red heads why the calliope can still play when you press the button even though it isn't there. Awesome.

The magic of Disney.

Duh!

And CK² don't get too excited about the calliope refurb. Somehow I imagine that if it really is being refurbed, it isn't going to come back to sit in the corner of the barn at the Fort.

Awesome trip report, as usual!

Cool pic of Yoda even if it was 3D. :)

Thanks.

I hope all is well with you.

I see a Halloween trip in your ticker. Are y'all heading to the Fort?

I was fortunate enough last summer to go to Disneyland in just this way. The country in between is awesome. I am even more fortunate in that this was the second time I have been able to do this. It was just as awe inspiring the second time. I hope for many more. Maybe I will do a mostly pic trip report. We hit National Parks and Monuments, Disneyland, and other things like giant Pistachios.

In case anyone missed it, Jason did start a trip report, and you can read it here: http://www.fortfiend...cation-at-once/

Since this one is winding down, you may want to get caught up on that one! It's good!

Your barn photos were really good. Almost felt like I was there. I am so ready to be back at the fort.

Thanks.

I hope the time flies by for you!

Just a few more months, right?

TCD

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Time to get posting on this report again.

I left off with us heading back to camp to watch a little of the Olympics closing ceremony before heading over to the MK.

I have to say that the UK did a great job on the Olympics. The venues all looked really nice, and they lucked out on the weather. We all enjoyed the opening and closing ceremonies. They did a great job incorporating all their stars in those. It makes me really wonder what the heck Brazil will possibly be able to do.

As we watched the Olympics, I got a bit sappy. Sometimes I think too much, and this was one of those times. It is hard to believe how fast the years had flown by since the 2008 Olympic games. And, assuming the next four years fly by as fast, my 17 year olds are suddenly going to be 21, and my 21 year old will be 25. That boggled my mind. I wish time would not pass so quickly.

Anyway, we were DVR'ing the show back home, so somewhere around the Spice Girls performance we pried ourselves away from the tube, and headed down to the Settlement.

It was just after 10 as we got to the dock, so we got to see the end of Wishes as we waited for the boat:

Unfortunately, we had missed the EWP. Every night. Lou will be happy to hear that.

So, no EWP photos for you.

It was EMH at the MK until 1 am. And we stayed there until about then.

I know the girls pin traded and played some of the SOTMK game.

We rode the rides that we didn't on Friday night.

And we went back to Dumbo.

We were standing looking at one of the new RFID readers they have installed there when a castmember came up to chat with us. He was a younger guy, but told us that he had worked at Dumbo since it reopened here in this new location. He had been around for some of the RFID testing that has taken place. He said folks just hold their KTTW cards up to those poles, and can walk into the Fastpass queue. He pointed out that there are no paper Fastpass machines at Dumbo, and that there were no plans for any. He said he understood that there would be a Fastpass distribution area for all of Fantasyland somewhere near the new walls that are being built over by Dumbo's old location.

Since he seemed to know a little something, I asked him about that mysterious Yellow tent that we saw on the model. It is pretty large when you see it in person on the other side of the construction wall:

Why are they not saying what this is?

The CM said that he heard that it was going to be a place for people to take breaks. Like a quiet place to take a rest.

I am not buying that.

Although it sounds nice.

There is something that they are holding back on.

I just can't figure out what it is.

Time will tell.

We did a few more rides, the girls traded some more pins, and then we finished up with some ice cream from the Main Street ice cream parlor. It's just Edie's ice cream, but for some reason, it tastes way better than the stuff you can buy at the store.

For no real reason, the last photo I have from Sunday night is of my favorite one of Donald's nephews:

We headed back to the Fort right at 1.

There was a family trying to get on the Fort boat who was looking for Epcot.

Boy, were they in for a long trip.

I paid another visit to the Meadow hot tub on Sunday night. There was a small group of folks in the pool, but I got the hot tub all to myself. That makes it twice now that I have finished a night at the Fort in the hot tub. And both times happened on this trip. I am detecting a trend.

So, that means we just have tomorrow morning left, and we will be heading home.

That must mean the end of this report is near.

But don't quit reading now. There was another Real Man of Genius I saw setting up at the Fort all day Sunday. We will take a look at his handywork before this report ends.

TCD

[stefa70 205]

I hear ya about time moving too fast!

Right before you took this trip, we exchanged some pm's and I told you about some changes in our family....it just keeps getting stranger and has made me realize that I'm getting too old for this kind of drama. Life was simpler when Nate was young, carefree and his biggest life decision was which matchbox car to play with.

I'm sad to see another TCD report coming to an end. Like time, your reports go by too fast also.

[jjbescher 17]

Time to get posting on this report again.

I left off with us heading back to camp to watch a little of the Olympics closing ceremony before heading over to the MK.

I have to say that the UK did a great job on the Olympics. The venues all looked really nice, and they lucked out on the weather. We all enjoyed the opening and closing ceremonies. They did a great job incorporating all their stars in those. It makes me really wonder what the heck Brazil will possibly be able to do.

As we watched the Olympics, I got a bit sappy. Sometimes I think too much, and this was one of those times. It is hard to believe how fast the years had flown by since the 2008 Olympic games. And, assuming the next four years fly by as fast, my 17 year olds are suddenly going to be 21, and my 21 year old will be 25. That boggled my mind. I wish time would not pass so quickly.

Anyway, we were DVR'ing the show back home, so somewhere around the Spice Girls performance we pried ourselves away from the tube, and headed down to the Settlement.

It was just after 10 as we got to the dock, so we got to see the end of Wishes as we waited for the boat:

Unfortunately, we had missed the EWP. Every night. Lou will be happy to hear that.

So, no EWP photos for you.

It was EMH at the MK until 1 am. And we stayed there until about then.

I know the girls pin traded and played some of the SOTMK game.

We rode the rides that we didn't on Friday night.

And we went back to Dumbo.

We were standing looking at one of the new RFID readers they have installed there when a castmember came up to chat with us. He was a younger guy, but told us that he had worked at Dumbo since it reopened here in this new location. He had been around for some of the RFID testing that has taken place. He said folks just hold their KTTW cards up to those poles, and can walk into the Fastpass queue. He pointed out that there are no paper Fastpass machines at Dumbo, and that there were no plans for any. He said he understood that there would be a Fastpass distribution area for all of Fantasyland somewhere near the new walls that are being built over by Dumbo's old location.

Since he seemed to know a little something, I asked him about that mysterious Yellow tent that we saw on the model. It is pretty large when you see it in person on the other side of the construction wall:

Why are they not saying what this is?

The CM said that he heard that it was going to be a place for people to take breaks. Like a quiet place to take a rest.

I am not buying that.

Although it sounds nice.

There is something that they are holding back on.

I just can't figure out what it is.

Time will tell.

We did a few more rides, the girls traded some more pins, and then we finished up with some ice cream from the Main Street ice cream parlor. It's just Edie's ice cream, but for some reason, it tastes way better than the stuff you can buy at the store.

For no real reason, the last photo I have from Sunday night is of my favorite one of Donald's nephews:

We headed back to the Fort right at 1.

There was a family trying to get on the Fort boat who was looking for Epcot.

Boy, were they in for a long trip.

I paid another visit to the Meadow hot tub on Sunday night. There was a small group of folks in the pool, but I got the hot tub all to myself. That makes it twice now that I have finished a night at the Fort in the hot tub. And both times happened on this trip. I am detecting a trend.

So, that means we just have tomorrow morning left, and we will be heading home.

That must mean the end of this report is near.

But don't quit reading now. There was another Real Man of Genius I saw setting up at the Fort all day Sunday. We will take a look at his handywork before this report ends.

TCD

I though London did do a great job, however, NBC, not so much. I know a lot of people like the touchy feely stories of the athletes, but when we are not watching this stuff LIVE, show us the athletes doing what they were there for. Show us some of the prelim heats of the US Athletes, not just the stars. Also, how could they leave out showing the WHO from the closing ceremonies, especially when they kept saying they will be on.

As for the RFID, how are they going to be able to handle this. Will ALL tickets be RFID?

jon

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I hear ya about time moving too fast!

Right before you took this trip, we exchanged some pm's and I told you about some changes in our family....it just keeps getting stranger and has made me realize that I'm getting too old for this kind of drama. Life was simpler when Nate was young, carefree and his biggest life decision was which matchbox car to play with.

I'm sad to see another TCD report coming to an end. Like time, your reports go by too fast also.

Thanks, Stef.

I miss the good old days too, which is why I got a little sappy watching the closing ceremonies and thinking how different things will be in my family dynamic when the next summer games roll around.

I though London did do a great job, however, NBC, not so much. I know a lot of people like the touchy feely stories of the athletes, but when we are not watching this stuff LIVE, show us the athletes doing what they were there for. Show us some of the prelim heats of the US Athletes, not just the stars. Also, how could they leave out showing the WHO from the closing ceremonies, especially when they kept saying they will be on.

As for the RFID, how are they going to be able to handle this. Will ALL tickets be RFID?

jon

I agree with you about the NBC coverage. One thing none of us liked was how they couldn't ID the US athletes walking in to the stadium. Come on, this thing is taped. Couldn't they have done a better job with that? Also, there are all kinds of competitions that we never heard a word about on prime time. I understand they were streaming eveything live, but maybe do a little work and show us a condensed version of things rather that all kinds of preliminary stuff that ultimately was not relevant to the U.S.

As for the the RFID readers- no one knows. I have heard from every castmember whom I have asked that there will still be paper Fastpasses after the RFID technology is put in use. But, I'm not so sure about that. Seems like it would make for a lot of extra work, plus there are many rides where they are putting in the readers, and there never have been paper Fastpasses. I guess when they open the big new part of Fantasyland later this year, we will all find out more.

TCD

[DaveInTN 3,247]

I have to say that the UK did a great job on the Olympics. The venues all looked really nice, and they lucked out on the weather. We all enjoyed the opening and closing ceremonies. They did a great job incorporating all their stars in those. It makes me really wonder what the heck Brazil will possibly be able to do.

Can you say naked Carnival dancers?

[mouseketab.....Carol 1,261]

To answer your question, Some of the "Disney Hotel" packages have a Disneyland shuttle, but they are paid services, (I think). I used Super Shuttle from LAX. I found a coupon online that was $3 off. The roundtrip was in the $30 dollar range.

For a family of 5, you might look into towncar services or a rental car.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

Can you say naked Carnival dancers?

Yeah, I figured that we will see a lot of feathers, sequins and skin.

But, that's going to get old fast.

BTW- I have been thinking about starting a travel company to send gangs of US teens there to chant and block lines. Anyone want to get in on the ground floor with me?

TCD

[DaveInTN 3,247]

But, that's going to get old fast.

It is?

[Gots2pitt.. Jeff 64]

It is?

I'm with Dave.

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

beware TCD... an uncomfortable tangent with dave could be ahead....

[DaveInTN 3,247]

beware TCD... an uncomfortable tangent with dave could be ahead....

Who, me?

[caveat lector 181]

.....

As we watched the Olympics, I got a bit sappy. Sometimes I think too much, and this was one of those times. It is hard to believe how fast the years had flown by since the 2008 Olympic games. And, assuming the next four years fly by as fast, my 17 year olds are suddenly going to be 21, and my 21 year old will be 25. That boggled my mind. I wish time would not pass so quickly.

TCD

Tru Dat Brutha!

My daughter and I had a similar conversation. She and I watch a lot of cardinal baseball and blues hockey. I came up with a small consolation in that we will still have the winter Olympics in 18 months. Yay!!!

[Heidi-meetsTCD@TSM 5]

Wow. I didn't know that "off-site" hotels were so close. I always assumed that we would stay in one of the Disney resorts. Since there aren't many choices, the prices on these are high.

As I said, I may be looking into this.

Does anyone know if they have something like Magical Express there?

Good to know about all of the eating options. Not like Disney World at all.

TCD

TCD,

Unless I stayed at the Grand Californian, I wouldnt bother to stay at the other two Disney hotels. (The Disneyland Hotel or the Paradise Pier) Believe it or not, our off site hotel was closer to the park entrances than those two hotels!!! The Grand Californian is beautiful though and I would love to stay there sometime. However, you can stay at the off site places so much cheaper.

We stayed at the Park Vue, it is the closest off site hotel, although there are many close by that would only be several foot steps more! We paid around 120.00 a night for August. I know it is more than other hotels that are close by. It is where we stayed three years ago, and we were very happy, so we stuck with them for this trip too. Plus, they serve a really good continental breakfast; waffles, eggs, bacon (yes, TCD BACON!!!!) sausage, hash browns, fresh fruits, bagels, cereal etc. With two teenage boys, it was worth it to pay more and get a great breakfast. Plus, they gave us unlimited bottles of cold water to take into the parks as well, also in the lobby they had pieces of fruit to take, fresh cookies and juice. It was great!

We ended up returning our rental van once we checked into the Park Vue and used Super Shuttle to get to the airport. I paid $55.00 for a van that just transported our family. I know there our cheaper options, but we liked our ride.

I hope you get to go with your family to Disneyland some day. I remember before we went three years ago, I looked at it as a one time visit, kind of like "been there, done that, dont need to go back" However, I knew once we got there last trip, we would be back. Just like I know this time, we will be back.

Back to your trip report. I am loving reading about the girls pin trading. We entered the pin trading world back in 2001 and are still going stong. In fact those two pins you photographed for the trip report......we have!!!! I always get our trading pins off ebay too! We have several thousand now. We have always collected the hidden Mickey pins that you cant buy.

Waiting for the next update!!!!

Heidi

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

I can see that we had better move on.

I guess we will have t wait four years and see if I am right about there being such a thing as too much skin, feathers and sequins. I say there is, but I can see where Dave might not agree.

We have now arrived at the last morning of our trip.

I have to take down and pack up all that stuff I set up.

Not my favorite thing.

But, at least I get to do it at the Fort.

Before I get started packing, though, I have time to have a little look around.

I now realize that I took photos of this swamp every morning. I guess I like it. I couldn't pick which of these three photos I liked best, so you get to see them all. They are all pretty much the same- I was just moving around to get different views of the sky, which I thought looked pretty cool this morning:

From there, you could probably guess that I would head to the 300 loop canal. I call this photo one fisherman and two cranes (which is two cranes too many) :

Here we are at what is known as TCD's favorite spot:

Extra credit if you saw the reflection of the bird right of center.

Also, I did not mention that there is a crane over there next to Space Mountain. I do not have a problem with that crane, even though it is ugly, because I know that it is only there to help with the new Fantasyland construction. I am in favor of that, so no negative remarks about that crane from me.

It had been dark and/or foggy on the other mornings I stopped by the area where the new dining pavilion is slated to go. I stopped this morning for a good look. There are no signs of anything about to happen any time soon around this area. All I saw was this old survey marker:

There was nothing else around:

Some poser was in Site 114. Its rightful occupant will be here soon:

I took a look at the old River Country entrance. Some day, if the DVC gets built, this is where some of the rooms will be:

This big field behind Pioneer Hall won't be here if the DVC gets built. This also will be covered with buildings:

Since we are looking at open space, here's another shot of that field next to Pioneer Hall. The old petting zoo is there in the background:

Here's another look at the old petting zoo/ current pony ride area:

Speaking of things I will miss, according to some things I have seen, this path will be gone if the DVC gets built:

I mentioned that there were wooden stakes at all of the crosswalks around the Fort. These are for new lights. Here are two of the stakes at the 400 loop entrance:

Here we are heading toward the 300 loop. If you were here in person, you would clearly see the Four Seasons crane there just above the tree line. I have posted a photo from here already, so we won't zoom in on that again:

Here's a couple of those wooden stakes at the 1400 loop entrance:

This is the crosswalk near the four way stop. You can see that they have put a stake over there. You can also see the new lights that were installed not too long ago along the sidewalk. I expect that the new lights being installed will look like these. If that is true, my only complaint will be that those lights are very bright:

Here's the survey marker at the four way stop:

And here are a couple of the markers out by the intersection of Peacock Pass:

I even got to see my old buddy the barrel painter driving around on his golf cart looking for something to paint brown:

There were workers with trucks from an electrical contractor walking around this morning. I spoke to these two guys. They said they were there to work on an issue with the electric service on the 1300 loop:

Some idiot nailed reflectors on the trees outside the golf cart parking area for the Meadow Trading Post. I say bad show on that:

I stopped in the Meadow Trading Post at this point to get a cup of coffee.

While there, I realized something really important.

I had not taken any photos of Bob's dock on this trip.

Which is really odd.

I always take photos of Bob's dock.

And usually a lot earlier in the trip than now.

But, luckily, I remembered, and I have a few photos for Bob.

Here's one:

And another. Look how nice that fancy landscaping is doing, Bob:

It looks like Bear Rock is never going to be swimming again:

I can't remember the water in the fishing hole being this low:

We are at the photo limit, so we will need to end this post here.

We will still be looking around the Fort in the next update.

TCD

[Nicki aka Rebelstand 272]

the fishing pond level keeps lowering and bob will be fishing for grass from the dock

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

To answer your question, Some of the "Disney Hotel" packages have a Disneyland shuttle, but they are paid services, (I think). I used Super Shuttle from LAX. I found a coupon online that was $3 off. The roundtrip was in the $30 dollar range.

For a family of 5, you might look into towncar services or a rental car.

That's not bad. It sounds like staying off-site might be the way to go here.

Tru Dat Brutha!

My daughter and I had a similar conversation. She and I watch a lot of cardinal baseball and blues hockey. I came up with a small consolation in that we will still have the winter Olympics in 18 months. Yay!!!

That is a good point.

I just am not a big fan of the Winter games.

TCD,

Unless I stayed at the Grand Californian, I wouldnt bother to stay at the other two Disney hotels. (The Disneyland Hotel or the Paradise Pier) Believe it or not, our off site hotel was closer to the park entrances than those two hotels!!! The Grand Californian is beautiful though and I would love to stay there sometime. However, you can stay at the off site places so much cheaper.

We stayed at the Park Vue, it is the closest off site hotel, although there are many close by that would only be several foot steps more! We paid around 120.00 a night for August. I know it is more than other hotels that are close by. It is where we stayed three years ago, and we were very happy, so we stuck with them for this trip too. Plus, they serve a really good continental breakfast; waffles, eggs, bacon (yes, TCD BACON!!!!) sausage, hash browns, fresh fruits, bagels, cereal etc. With two teenage boys, it was worth it to pay more and get a great breakfast. Plus, they gave us unlimited bottles of cold water to take into the parks as well, also in the lobby they had pieces of fruit to take, fresh cookies and juice. It was great!

We ended up returning our rental van once we checked into the Park Vue and used Super Shuttle to get to the airport. I paid $55.00 for a van that just transported our family. I know there our cheaper options, but we liked our ride.

I hope you get to go with your family to Disneyland some day. I remember before we went three years ago, I looked at it as a one time visit, kind of like "been there, done that, dont need to go back" However, I knew once we got there last trip, we would be back. Just like I know this time, we will be back.

Back to your trip report. I am loving reading about the girls pin trading. We entered the pin trading world back in 2001 and are still going stong. In fact those two pins you photographed for the trip report......we have!!!! I always get our trading pins off ebay too! We have several thousand now. We have always collected the hidden Mickey pins that you cant buy.

Waiting for the next update!!!!

Heidi

Thanks for all that information on DL. If I go any further with this, I will probably have some more questions to ask.

Thousands of pins? Oh my. I didn't know what those Hidden Mickey pins were, but I guess they are issued to castmembers specifically to trade. There must be millions of them. And a lot of cool ones!

the fishing pond level keeps lowering and bob will be fishing for grass from the dock

True. But it won't affect Bob's success(or lack thereof) at catching the fish at all.

TCD

[Lou... 3,118]

The banks are almost overflowing at other WDW resorts, yet they're keeping the Fort's water level low.

[Tri-Circle-D 2,059]

The banks are almost overflowing at other WDW resorts, yet they're keeping the Fort's water level low.

Strange.

I was surprised to see the water so low. We have had plenty of rain lately.

TCD