This Happy Place: Disneyland November 2024 - Pre-trippie

[Gill H]

To all who read this (hopefully) happy trip report – welcome!

This Disneyland trippie is your trippie. Here age whinges about its sore feet, and here youth may savour the challenge of getting a virtual queue line for Haunted Mansion Holiday. This trippie is dedicated to the ideals, the dreams and the hard facts that have created this holiday, with hope that it will be a source of joy and inspiration to other Dibbers.

If you recognise the quote I’m parodying then you are either a seasoned visitor to the Disney parks or you’re on your fourth rewatch of ‘The Imagineering Story’ on Disney+ - or probably both. It is of course based on Walt’s famous speech at the opening of Disneyland in 1955. One thing we have learned in planning a trip to Disneyland is the fascinating bits of history that await us, whether that’s the Disney Legends immortalised in Main Street’s windows, or the leprechaun’s house in Adventureland

As this is our first foray into the West Coast forum, you may need a little introduction to us.

We are Peter and Gill, both fifty-mumble and living in South Wales. We share our home with the gorgeous Cookie.

We've visited Disneyland Paris so many times we've lost count, but it's well into double figures.

We've been to Walt Disney World three times.

We've done two Disney cruises.

And we even made it to Tokyo Disneyland.

Links to our other trippies, and Peter's excellent videos, are in my signature if you want to explore while you're waiting for me to write this report!

[Gill H]

This trip begins its story back in November last year. No sooner had we recovered from the jet lag after our Tokyo trip than we began contacting our lovely Travel Counsellor, Helen, to make enquiries about a trip to LA and Anaheim.

Our original plan was to include a stay in Hollywood including a visit to Universal and a couple of days seeing the sights around LA before moving on to Anaheim for some Disney days. However, before long, ambition met budget and they sat down and had a long talk. We decided that as our main reason for going was Disney, we’d cut things down a little and just base ourselves in Anaheim.

We booked five days of tickets, including Lightning Lane (OK, when we booked them it was Genie+, but Genie+ is a bit like Bruno these days, we don’t talk about it!) We later decided to add park hopping for extra flexibility.

So our trip will comprise flights from Heathrow to LAX (Premium Economy, as neither of us are skinny and we appreciate the extra room). Then 7 nights at the Sheraton Park Hotel in Anaheim, before flying back to Heathrow where we will make our way home by train.

The maths wizards among you will have noticed that we have one free day not covered by park tickets. Tempting though it was to book an excursion out to Universal or a wine-tasting trip, again we’ve looked at our budget and decided to explore some of the local area. There’s an interesting place called The Packing District It’s centered on a former citrus packing house which is now home to many independent food stalls and looks a fascinating place to visit.

So now we had flights, hotel and tickets all booked, it was time to sort our pre-flight hotel. Despite flying from Terminal 3, we decided to stay at the Sofitel Terminal 5. Our previous stay at the Hilton Garden Inn T2/3 was great for location (15 minutes’ walk) and OK for the price. But thanks to the power of the Dibb, we managed to nab a very good deal for the Sofitel at the same price, for what looks like a much nicer hotel. It is a short covered walk to Terminal 5, from where you get the free shuttles to Terminal 3. A little later I received a £200 reward at work, and used it to book ourselves an extra night at the hotel, so we will have time to really relax and enjoy it.

In a little break from all the planning and saving, we managed to take a long weekend to London in August, to see Hello Dolly and Starlight Express. The latter was our first date 32 years ago! As well as having a great time seeing shows, we managed to pop into another theatre in order to spend some theatre tokens which had been burning a hole in our pockets for a long time. We booked seats for Hadestown, for the Saturday night we will be in London before our trip. Really looking forward to seeing it, and there is no better way to kick off a holiday than a theatre trip.

We’ve made park reservations, because yes, those are still a thing at Disneyland. And we’ve booked our train to London. So that just leaves paying our cat-sitter and buying any specific things we need – I’m currently considering a UV-resistant umbrella which may help me beat the heat.

Then last week it was finally time to start making restaurant reservations – 60 days out. From what we can gather, Disneyland is more renowned for its snacks and quick service food than its table service restaurants. However, we have managed to book for Napa Rose at the Grand Californian Hotel which will be our ‘big splurge’ meal. We’ve also booked the Lamplight Lounge in Disney California Adventure, which gets good reviews.

We were keen to do the Fantasmic dining package, mainly because I am not good at standing for long periods. It’s rather off-putting that the only seating is on the ground, which is definitely not an option for me – I’m far too unfit and creaky for that! Which means the best option would be the River Belle Premium package which actually gives you seating on the restaurant terrace while you have dinner and watch the show from there. However, I haunted the website for several days, and even dead on 2pm when the next day’s availability opened, there was absolutely no sign of this package, just the Standard ones. But when the window opened for the Friday of our trip, I was poised and ready just before 2pm, and to my surprise I managed to grab the Premium package!

The other thing we would love to book is the World of Color Dessert Party. Again, it’s the only way to sit down and see this show! However, the latest version of World of Color has now closed, the Christmas version starts on 15 November and there is currently no official announcement as to whether any version will be showing before this. It’s so frustrating as we are within our 60 days and could book, but there’s no show to book for! So instead we have made a booking for Storytellers Café, which apparently we can ask on the day to upgrade to the dining package. This won’t give us seats, but at least means we have access to a really good standing area with minimal waiting around. And if by any chance World of Color doesn’t return, well, we have a meal in a lovely restaurant.

And that’s about it really. For the next two months we are continuing to save all we can for our holiday spends, and looking forward to a new way to experience the magic.

So as Mickey would say, see ya real soon, for our journey to the happiest place on Earth!

[smithlane]

Sounds like a great plan Gill. I'm still yet to get to Disneyland but always enjoy reading about the parks, I hope to get there one day!
Have a fabulous time

[Gill H]

A few updates:

We have now managed to book the World of Color Dessert Party, for which my legs (if not my waistline) will be devoutly thankful.

Having seen a video of the lounge facilities at the Sheraton Park Hotel, we're wondering how much it would be to upgrade when we check in. The breakfast and snacks would be extremely helpful, as would the 24/7 coffee and soft drinks. Peter in particular can drink our entire budget in cola, so we're thinking this might actually save us money, depending on how much it would be.

Some sadder news - my mum passed away peacefully on 9 October. It was expected, she'd stopped eating and even stopped drinking water. The dementia had come to a point where she was just ready to go. The staff at the home were amazing and kept me well informed. Everyone here has been so kind and helpful, and we are all ready for the funeral next Thursday and the family service at the crem on Friday. We will be even more ready for our holiday than before.

I'll try and do an update from London, so until then, see you all real soon.

[Melanie R]

So sorry to hear about your mum Gill x

[Buggles94]

So sorry to hear about your Mum Gill... it's a horrible illness...
We were in Disneyland in the summer so will be following along on your adventures to see what you think. Really glad you got the seated packages for both shows. We loved Fantasmic there and WOC is amazing! Have an absolutely amazing time

[ajw77]

Really sorry to hear about your mum, we lost my mum to dementia last year and that end stage is really horrible for everyone.

At least the funeral is before your holiday, and it won't be weighing on your mind while you're away. Hopefully you can switch off on holiday, and whilst I'm sure you'll still be thinking of her, you can enjoy making some new memories 💕