Trip Report Mar 20-30 w/ pics

[mickeytimm]

Ongoing Trip report 3-20 to 3-30, Santa Barbara and Disneyland Resort.

I headed down to Santa Barbara to hang out with a few friends for an extended weekend 3-20 through 3-24. I flew into LAX, rented a car from Alamo. I did the automated check-in, was easy and had my car and was on my way up the 101 eventually. It was ridiculously cheap for me to rent a car for 10 days rather than having to get cabs/shuttles to the places I was traveling. Had a good time, lots of sun, ran on the beach every day, and really enjoyed my time there.

On Monday (3-24), I headed back down south towards Anaheim. Some of my family and friends weren’t going to get there until late Monday night with more joining us throughout the week. I checked into the Paradise Pier, shot over to Target and Vons to get some groceries, and back to the hotel to get in a quick workout. I headed into Disneyland around 6ish and the parade was just going by. Got my AP photo (no one was in line and it was quick and easy). Wandered through a few shops on Main Street for a little while and decided to go get some food. First thing I noticed walking through Downtown Disney earlier was the crowds. Every restaurant had long, long lines. This wasn’t unexpected, it’s just always a little surprising no matter how prepared you are for it. I went into ESPN Zone, got a seat at the bar and had some food and a tasty beverage. The Salmon BLT was excellent, btw.

I'll post more over the next few days and I have a lot more pics, I've been trying to write up each day as the day after or so.

[cinder]

Cool pics so far! Love the creativity you guys have with shots.

[HSM fans]

Great pictures

[Belle&Pumpkin]

Love the indy pic!! Can't wait to hear more.

[Alpha]

More, more...............please

[mickeytimm]

On Tuesday, (3-25), we slowly wandered through Downtown Disney from 10-11ish.

(note: this trip was much more about relaxing and just taking things slowly. Fortunately, we are able to visit Disneyland multiple times a year and don’t feel the need to do as many rides as possible and be stressed by the crowds. Granted, I would love to have no crowds, but I can’t complain when I’m down at Disneyland.)

We got through the bag check after a couple minute wait. The lines were about 1/3 of the way back for entrance into DL. They were to the letters for DCA. We were meeting my mom’s cousin in DCA so we headed in there. We got a fast pass for Soarin’, it was for a 7-8 return time. A few of us were hungry so we headed over to the Wharf. I had the chicken and apple salad in a bread bowl, it was really good. Hit up Tower of Terror with a posted wait time of 55 min but it only took about 30. That ride never gets old for me, always very enjoyable. We wandered through some shops (my mom and aunt are big shoppers) and then headed into DL. The crowds were large as expected and we were just able to get fast passes for Indy. We went on Haunted Mansion and wandered through New Orleans Square. I spotted William “Billy” Baldwin eating at one of the restaurants (Backdraft). We drove down to SouthCoast Plaza for a couple of hours for a few different “errands.” On our way back we stopped and ate at Bubba Gump. Open at this time are Cheesecake Factory, California Pizza Kitchen, PF Changs, Roy’s of Hawaii, Bubba Gump and McCormick and Schmicks. We all liked the food, I had part of the Coconut Shrimp and a delicious salad, the Pear and Berry Salad. It had chicken, pears, raspberries, strawberries, candied pecans, spinach and a raspberry vinaigrette. We went back into DCA and used our fast pass for Soarin, went on Screamin right at 10 and then headed over to DL. We wanted to go on Big Thunder but it was closed so we went on Jungle Cruise and then eventually used our fast pass for Indy that we had gotten earlier.

Future DVC Units construction between GCH and DCA I believe . . .

[Alpha]

Good Good!............more more! Shots of other places you went are OK too.

[13thHour]

Great Pictures!

[suttytx]

The Pacific Wharf area is just so neat looking. I wish they'd do more with it.

[Belle&Pumpkin]

Do you have any pictures of Garden Walk?